Like I Can
by Klarxline
Summary: Caroline's 21st Birthday started out great, turned bad and ended even worse. What will she do when meets a deadly assassin with a sexy accent, who seems to know all her friends, is trying to kill her fiancé-to-be? And most of all, why can't she seem to hate him?
1. Chapter 1

**This**** is my first Klaroline fanfic so yeah enjoy and sorry for the bad grammer in advance, I promise it gets better. Please leave a review about what you think I should do next!**

* * *

Caroline let out a squeak of joy as she hopped out of the piping hot shower. She wrapped herself in a white towel and twirled around the unfamiliar bathroom. Before brushing her pearly whites and blow drying her golden locks, she let out another shriek of excitement. This was so great, she almost couldn't believe it. She closed her eyes and smiled feeling the hot rays of the Brazil sun warm her face through the frosted glass.

While tightening the towel around her chest, Caroline crawled over her asleep lover. As she showered him with kisses and ran her hands through his dark spiked hair, he groaned and turned his back to her.

"Get off, it's too early for this." He complained half asleep.

"Tyler! This is our second last day in Brazil! I have a schedule and a to-do list and neither of them include you and your lazy ass laying around here. We still haven't been to the Copacabana Beach, Christ the Redeemer or the rainforest. I've told you that-"

Tyler sat up and stretched. "The rainforest takes a full day and we're doing it on the last day. Yeah, yeah." Tyler began planting kisses on Caroline's neck and rubbing her waist.

"Tyler..." Caroline warned, "get ready please."

"Fine." He grunted, getting up and walked into the bathroom. She slightly flinched as she heard the door slam shut.

Caroline rummaged through her suitcase looking for an outfit for the day. She settled on a white thigh high sundress with pink floral patterns scattered around it. After gettting it on, she sat in front of a mirror and brought out her daily use kit. Caroline began to curl her hair carefully. Tyler had planned this trip as a suprise. It was fun and romantic and really sweet. That didn't stop her from wondering why. Yes, tomorrow was her birthday, but they usually just went out to Mystic Grill and pigged out with their friends. Of course after the shots they'd go home tipsy and have a little more fun, but what was so different about her 21st birthday. Yeah she could legally drink now but that didn't stop her before.

Before she could finish applying her sunscreen, a Sam Smith song broke her train of thoughts. Caroline urgently scavenged for her laptop at the bottom of her tricoloured suitcase. Once she found it, Caroline plopped on the bed and answered. Her two best friends were smiling and waving and a lump appeared in her throat. "Hi guys!" She squealed excitedly.

"Hey Caroline! How's Brazil?!" Elena screamed ecstatically, doing a little dance. She pushed her straight brunette hair out of face showing her enthusiastic brown eyes.

"It's been amazing! We've almost been to every big sight in Brazil, but I miss you guys a ton."

"We miss you a lot too!" Bonnie said with her pale green eyes brimming with tears. Bonnie had a whole new look since the last time Caroline saw her. What used to be her long wavy hair had been discarded and was now a bob that didn't even pass her chin.

"God Bonnie, it's been like a week! You look so different!"

"Yeah, this is all thanks to Damon. He bribed me with bourbon and money to go get a haircut with him. Apparently now he can't get a haircut without his trusty best friend by his side. He was rambling something about Bamon, dumbass."

This forced Caroline to let out a small laugh. Though Damon was in love and dating Elena, he always had this fascination with her Bennett friend. He kept on nagging at her until she succumbed to his ways. It always cracked her up how Damon's annoyance could bring him oh so close to someone. The friendship he forced blossomed into something beautiful. She had to give him creds for that.

"Where are the rest of the gang anyways?" Caroline quired. She noticed the two were in the Salvatore house, which was where everyone hung out. So where were the rest of them.

Elena gave her a wide smile and whispered one, two, three.

Her whole friend group popped up from behind the couch with sprinklers in their hands. "Happy birthday to you," They sang in unison as Jeremy passed one to Elena and Matt passed one to Bonnie. "Happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Caroline, happy birthday to you."

Caroline was flabbergasted and her eyes glossed over. _Oh my god. _She thought.

"Hip, hip, hip..." Stefan started.

"Hooray!"

"Hip, hip, hip..."

"Hooray!"

"Hip, hip, hip..." Stefan shouted one last time.

"Hooray!" They all chorused back.

"Guys! Thanks!" She said with her hand over her heart.

"Happy early birthday, Blondie." Damon said with a lazy smile. He then turned to Bonnie. "You're gonna get it for calling me dumbass Bon Bon."

Elena kissed his cheek to calm him down and turned back to Caroline. "We decided to call you today because we all know for your birthday you're heading to the rainforest."

"Then you're getting sexy in the sheets with Lockwood all night, Care Bear-"

Stefan sighed. "What he means to say, Caroline, is that we don't want to cut into your special day tomorrow."

She gratefully smiled at him. "Thanks."

"Happy early birthday Care." Matt said.

"Ditto," Jeremy put in. "Say hi to Ty for me okay?"

"And tell him to stay out of trouble." Alaric said.

Caroline nodded in reply. "I will. Well, I should get going now. We're going to have to leave soon. Thank you guys so much. I love you, see you soon!"

The video chat ended and she closed her laptop. Her heart made a small jump. "Oh my god Tyler. I didn't know you were there." She smiled warmly at him, "Jeremy said hi. You should've said something."

"Yeah whatever. I didn't want see that dick while talking to him." Tyler growled.

"Stop this. Damon is a friend, you can't hurt him. You need to overcome the past." She said while embracing him.

"Do you not remember what he did to you?"

"Yes I do remember. And he formally and sincerely apologized for it. I forgave him. We all did because he deserved it." Caroline soothingly rubbed Tyler's sides. She traced circles on his back and placed a kiss on his lips. "Come on let's go! We have a lot ahead of us." After grabbing her purse, her phone and his hand, they were off.

* * *

Klaus was perched up on the roof of a fancy matte black resturant. His dark clothing blended him in. He had been there for hours waiting and watching for his target. He checked his watch.

It was 11:00 pm.

It was time.

Klaus changed out of his black hoodie and sweatpants into a dark olive coloured sweater and a black leather jacket. He put on dark jeans and stuffed his spying clothes into a duffelbag. A couple approached the resturant before Klaus could jump down. The dark haired man had a suit on and kissed the woman's cheek before walking inside without her. Klaus smiled for he had located his target.

He jumped off the roof and onto some garbage bins in the back before hitting the floor. Because he decided to do some digging on his victim, Tyler Lockwood, Klaus would try by talking to his significant other. Creeping up behind the blonde was easy, now she just had turn around. Klaus tapped his toe slightly and she whipped around to face him.

"What the hell are you doing?" She asked with red fire in her icy blue eyes.

She was ravashing.

Her blonde curls rested past her shoulders covering some of the skin her pastel pink sleeveless dress let show. The dress was tight around her top half and unfortunately loose on her bottom. Klaus smirked to himself. Tyler had gotten a real nice one with him. Beautiful wasn't close to describing her.

"Hello?!" She asked in an angry tone.

"Hello." Klaus calmly replied with a smile. He changed his usual British accent into an American one to decrease suspicion.

"Were you staring at me just now?!"

"No, of course not," he lied. "I made reservations here, you were just blocking the doorway, gorgeous."

She seemed to realize that he was right and her cheeks were soon dusted with rose. "Whatever." She took a step to her left, "is this enough room for you?"

"Yeah, thanks." He noticed her shiver and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you out here all alone?"

"My boyfriend told me to wait for him out here. Supposedly, he's getting the table." She crossed her arms and rubbed them furiously. She was cold. Klaus thought of plenty of ways that would warm her up.

Klaus saw Tyler coming towards the door. He could not be noticed by Tyler, let alone engaged. But to know his true nature, he had to put him in a vunerable state.

He took his leather jacket off and put it around her shoulders. "Here you go. I hope this doesn't ruin your awesome outfit but I wouldn't you to freeze to death. Have an nice night." Just as Tyler walked out the door, Klaus walked in stealthily sheilding his face. He could feel the jealous stares on his back but he continued on.

Klaus sat in the far corner of the restaurant eating. Today was an observation day so he could do as he liked. Tomorrow is where the real fun begins. As he indulged in his chicken and green beans, he felt tension in the air. _Time to listen in to a lovers quarrel._ Klaus thought with a smile as he slowly made out the voices.

"So you've really just been slutting around with everyone right?" An angry voice said a little too loud.

"No, listen. I can explain." The woman's voice was trembling out of control. As soon as he recognized it, Klaus turned to see the woman dressed in pale pink.

"Oh can you now? You're just a pretty little thing that everyone wants to get with."

"Tyler this jacket doesn't anything to me! A stranger gave it to me because I was cold!"

Klaus's ears perked. The little blonde woman was talking about him to Tyler. That was definitely not his intention, but this would help him see if Tyler's nature when he got angry. He could see if he matured any. Find out the right way to deal with him. He was hot headed and impulsive, this could either be very easy, or very hard.

"Right, and he doesn't mean anything to you either?!" Klaus glanced at them and now Tyler and standing up. He slammed his hands in front of her. "Answer me!"

Murmurs were spreading around the restaurant now and people were calling for workers and security. "Tyler calm down, we're not at home. Let's talk about this later." She shakily put her hand on Tyler's.

_So_ _this_ _lady_ _must_ _be_ _a_ _masochist_ _or_ _very_ _deeply_ in _love_ _with_ _this_ _toxic_ _being_. Klaus thought to himself. Klaus knew Tyler was dangerous and he almost stood up to stop him. _Your mission is more important than some relationship drama. He'll be dealt with soon enough, Niklaus._

He ripped his hand away from hers and took a sip out of his drink. The whole resturant went silent after an ear splitting sound of shattering glass that caused everyones heads to turn.

He threw it at her.

Luckily the glass didn't completely hit her and hit the wall right beside her. Bourbon and shards of glass were stuck on her dress and on her skin. Tyler realized what he did. "Caroline..."

She didn't look at him. She was paralized.

"I'll see you at the hotel." He stormed out of the restaurant but this so called Caroline didn't move.

Klaus noticed that Tyler dropped something. A small black velvet box. Caroline noticed too. Klaus was sure she figured out what it was as soon as him because the tears finally started to fall. The clock struck twelve indicating the start of a new day and before the average person saw, she was out of the restaurant.

* * *

Not a word came out of Tyler's mouth when she got home. Only when she woke up did Tyler kissed her cheek and tell her he booked a private tour of the Amazon. She got into the shower and let the burning hot water sting her skin for a while.

Yes Tyler had always had anger issues. He would shout at her and slam doors and threaten her, but he had never thrown anything at her. No one knew about this except for her. She didn't talk to Bonnie or Elena about it because they would tell her friends and they'd hate him. The guys would beat him up, one hundred percent. and he'd be out of our friend group. Where would he go then? If they didn't tell anyone, they'd limit her time with him and shoot him dirty glares. Not an option. Tyler was the love of her life. Caroline couldn't let him go.

Right after Caroline finished get ready, they left for their personal tour. She was wearing a tight army green camo print romper. Don't judge, it was her birthday anyway. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail so it wouldn't snag on anything while they were exploring for the day.

She and Tyler sat side by side in the sketchy jeep the tour guide drove. Supposedly, it looked way classy on the website. This was the opposite of classy. Caroline couldn't complain, Tyler tried his best.

At least the Amazon was stunning. Beautiful, full of life, simply amazing. Like her. Or at least what she thought she was.

No one stopped him, no one tried to stop Tyler, but she could feel everyone watching them. Caroline didn't want anyone to hurt Tyler, but was it too much to ask for someone to try to stand up for her?

_No,_ Caroline shook her head slightly,_ you're just being selfish._

While deep in her thoughts, Caroline flinched as she felt something take her hand. Tyler pressed his thumb against her palm softly. Though this gesture was supposed to be soothing, all she felt was fear. She couldn't let this one slide like all the others. You're not supposed to be scared while you're with the love of your life.

"Tyler, we need to talk about last night," Caroline started.

"No, we don't."

"Tyler. We do. Yesterday you got so angry and I was scared..."

"We're not talking about it Care." Tyler tightened his grip on her hand.

"You could've seriously-"

Tyler grabbed her collar and pulled her towards him. "I said shut up Caroline!" Tyler's eyes were dark and full of pure anger. Horror crawled up her spine and she shut her eyes. He was going to hit her. The driver didn't seem to be concerned. He didn't care about what happened to her. Why would he?

The thumbs that Tyler just used to try to comfort her were now inching towards her neck. Caroline attempted to move, but he was too powerful. His thumbs were now pressing against her neck, pushing in her adams apple. She couldn't breathe.

Terrified, Caroline opened her eyes and stared into his. Her eyes blurred with tears that she felt roll down her cheeks. Was her boyfriend capable of murder?

Suddenly, the jeep jerked suddenly causing her to slam her head on the car. Frantically, she looked behind her to see the jeep on fire. The last thing she heard before fading into the darkness was "oh no, they're here."

* * *

Klaus didn't care to thank the company after they provided him with the information he needed. A private tour of a small fraction of the Amazon at 11:30 am to 2:00 pm was booked by Tyler Lockwood.

He had had this coming for him for some time now. Lockwood had gotten involved with a dangerous organization and was an impulsive freak and betrayer. Then like a dumbass, he used his real passport to take his girlfriend to Brazil so he could propose. Only, instead of proposing, Tyler just screamed at the innocent lady and threw a glass at her head. Klaus was not one to judge people for their sins, but being an abusive lover has their consequences. So does being a ruthless assassin. The one perk about his sin is that you get punished, but only if you get caught.

All his stuff was packed now he just needed to get to the sight. Klaus had memorized Tyler's schedule and at 1:15 pm, he would have a stop for bathroom breaks. Instead of hitting Tyler at the break, he has went a few hundred meters back. He climbed up the tree and sat on a sturdy branch.

This would be the end of Tyler Lockwood. And his driver. Only one casualty, a small price to pay to take down one of TVD's enemies. Klaus planned to throw an explosive at the jeep Tyler would ride in, throwing them off guard. The driver would crash and die from the impact. Lockwood wouldn't. He's trained to walk off car crashes. So while Tyler realizes what's going on, Klaus would climb down and drive a knife into his heart. Then he'd frame it to look like a piece of glass got the better of him in an unfortunate accident.

The sound of an approaching vehicle got to his ears. He pulled out his binoculars and located the jeep. It was the one Tyler booked, but there was a problem. There were not two people, there were three. The driver, Tyler Lockwood, and a certain beautiful blonde.

The abusee was here. Why was she here? Were they not in a fight?

Caroline was looking out of the jeep without expression. Her shoulders were tense, her breathing was short, it looked like she was going to break out into a cold sweat. She was frightened.

On a closer look, Klaus could see Tyler's hand holding hers. Klaus felt his emotion slightly change. He had the audacity to touch her after he could of severely hurt her last night.

The car got closer by the second, but Klaus was focused on Caroline. She had started to talk to Tyler but it seemed like he was shutting her down. His grip got tighter on her hand. She winced, but tried again and this time he reacted. In a split second, Tyler grabbed her by her neck and began to slowly choke her.

Klaus knew what Tyler was doing. He would choke her until she was about to pass out then snap her neck in a moment of weakness. Just like he did.

A loud explosion boomed through out the rainforest.

_Dammit._

Klaus didn't know what he did until he did it. The timing was off. Lockwood could escape. He stuffed the knife in his back pocket and jumped down the tree. The jeep was far off and Klaus cringed while sprinting.

His mind should be on where he should look for Lockwood if he escaped. All he could think about was that sexy blonde. Her face of terror, tears falling from her eyes. Tyler's hand on hers. Now all he wanted to do was finish off the job. The jeep was flipped on it's top covered in flames. He checked Tyler's seat and clenched his teeth at it's emptiness. The driver was hanging from his seat. The seatbelt was tangled around his neck and his face was covered in blood. He was dead.

_Caroline._ Klaus thought and ran over to Caroline's side. She was hanging there with a red stained collarbone. _No. _He reached into the car and unbuckled her and pulled her out. He saw her chest move up and down. She was alive and he felt strangely relieved. While placing her on the floor she stirred and her eyes opened.

It was quite the sight. Her tight clothing featured her curves at her hips and her chest. Her smooth legs were parted as if she was inviting him in. Her legs had red scratches and cuts all over them. Her neck had two bruises on it wher Tyler had tried to kill her.

"Tyler?" Caroline looked around.

Klaus smirked, "guess again."

Caroline looked up at him and seemed to recognize him. "You?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey this is the second chapter and I promise every chapter gets longer. Make sure to leave reviews and favourite and follow this story for updates on when I post a new chapter**

* * *

_What the hell is going on? _

Caroline felt the blood rushing to her head and her body aching all over. Then she remembered.

_Ugh we crashed._ _Am I alive? Where's Tyler? _

She tried to look around but her eyes couldn't open. Sharp piercing ran throughout her body when she tried to move.

_I'm definitely not dead. If I was, this wouldn't hurt like a bitch. _

Suddenly, she felt two arms wrap around her and unbuckled her.

_Tyler. He's safe. _

She sighed in relief as she felt herself get placed on the mossy damp floor.

It took all of Caroline's willpower to pry open her eyes. She looked around for Tyler and couldn't find him. "Tyler?" She croaked.

"Guess again." was the reply she heard. He had an British accent, definitely not Tyler.

Caroline looked up to see a familiar face. Her eyes locked with dark blue-green ones. He gave her a smile and a eyebrow raise.

Then it hit her.

"You." The man that was looming above was the one who she met in front of the restaurant. "Get off me!"

"I haven't heard that one before."

"Ugh as if!" Caroline growled showing his chest as hard as she could. Unfortunately, it was not very hard.

"Calm down. I'm not here to hurt you love."

"Who are you? Why are you here? Where's- Oh my god." Caroline struggled to get on her feet. She felt a stabbing pain in her arms and her legs. She looked down and saw pieces of glass in her.

It hurt.

Bad.

That didn't matter right now, all that did was his safety. "Tyler? Tyler!" When she finally got to the other side she gasped at the sight. "The tour guide, he's-"

"Dead as a door nail?" The man said while getting up. "Don't worry, I'm sure it was quick and painless." His tone implied he found this funny.

"How can you be joking about this? This is serious, he's dead." Caroline buried her face in her hands. Tyler wasn't here. She couldn't decide if she should be relieved that he was alive or depressed because he wasn't here. Maybe she should be relieved for both of the options. Had he tried to kill her because she pissed him off? If she had just gotten over it and out of bed earlier, she would've been able to book a proper tour, they'd still be together. "This is all my fault."

"Love, I think you need to calm down-"

"Shut up! Just be quiet for a second." Caroline sighed while wiping her eyes. "I have to go find my boyfriend." She got up and sort of limped past the man and he immediately grabbed her arm. "Let me go, dammit!"

"You need to calm down beautiful, before you go chasing over your one true love with blind, idiotic passion." He told her in a dangerous tone.

"Who are you to tell me what to do? I have no idea who the hell you are." Caroline grunted while tugging at her arm.

"I'm your worst nightmare." He smiled.

"Wow, I'm so scared." Caroline rolled her eyes, "now leave me alone you stalker!"

"No matter how much you protest, you are not venturing into the Amazon by yourself. Especially not after your murderous boyfriend Tyler."

Caroline flinched. Could he have read her mind? "Murderous? Tyler's not... murderous. H-how do you even know Tyler anyways? How do you know anything? Why do you have a British accent, I swear to God you were American the last time we met."

"Well to answer your questions, sweetheart, yes murderous. I know him because I'm an infamous assassin or serial killer if you must and he will be my next vitcim. Well if you try not to be too annoying. I know anything because I know everything and you learn how to fake an accent at the organization's academy." He smiled.

Caroline blinked and processed the information. "S-serial killer?" Caroline opened her mouth to scream but he covered her mouth quickly.

He man leaned in so close to her, she could feel his breath on her ear and he whispered, "you see Caroline, you're beautiful. However if you make a sound I will tear you limb by limb and scatter your body parts around the rainforest. But don't fret, I'll keep but your left arm and take it to your psychotic abuser so he can slide that ring on your finger before he meets his long awaited fate."

Caroline felt his hand move away from her face and he smiled at her, revealing his dimples. She didn't say a word._ How did he know about that?_

"Now come, follow me. I need to look for Tyler and figure out what to do with you." He began to walked deeper into the thick forest.

Though Caroline followed him silently and without any troubles, she guessed he felt her aura of fear. A minute passed before he turned back to her. "Where's all that spunk love? Don't tell me you're afraid of me now." When she didn't answer he closed his eyes and sighed. "I am not going to hurt you Caroline. You may still be of use to me. And I wouldn't want such a pretty face to go to such a waste."

He was not getting away with that no matter how creepy he was_. _The last person that hadcalled her just a pretty face was_ Damon. _Now they're cool, but back then, she showed him and all of her friends to watch their tongues around her.

So Caroline slapped him, across his face. No, he did not flinch or show any signs of pain, but she had little patience, a short temper and that was the last staw. "Do not materialize me. _Ever_." She huffed as she walked away.

At first, Caroline could not see any signs of her being followed and she smirked to herself.

She showed him.

Then after her minute long victory, she could hear the crunching of dried green leaves behind her. Caroline's pace quickened and so did his. Before she knew it, she was sprinting away. Or at the most, trying to. Ducking under branches and darting between trees, twisting and turning to lose him. Her cheerleading stamina helped her the most here, but even that had it's limits. Despite her great efforts, Caroline was now clumsily jumping over logs and jogging at most. It was hard to run with a piece of glass buried deep into your calf.

Soon, her exhaustion and pain got the best of her. Her stupid foot caught a nick in a rock and she toppled over into someone's arms.

"Careful love. If I had let you fall, you would've fractured your wrist. It would seem like it healed up quite nicely but, whenever you would move it, it would make this irritating popping sound. It happened to one of my colleagues."

Caroline was breathing too hard to respond immediately, but she knew this guy was right. It happened to Bonnie, she hated it so much she got surgery to fix it. He really was a know-it-all.

She felt the muscular arm behind her neck, holding her head up. The other was snaked around her waist tightly. The intensity Caroline saw when she met this guy's eyes was indescribable.

He was angry. "You see, I was too busy trying to stop an accident waiting to happen. Now I have no idea where we are." The man's tone was calm as he lifted her up, but every inch of her was shaking in fear. Caroline guessed he felt her shivering and he let go. "Are you frightened?"

She nodded.

"Listen, I'm not going to decapitate you or cut you up into little pieces-"

"But you do that to other people. You do tons of bad things. You're a serial killer who wants to kill the love of my life. I bet you put peole in torture chambers and rape innocent women and stalk people like you're doing to me." Caroline said quietly.

The man smiled. "Not entirely true. I do quite enjoy torture chambers, but I'm not a rapist. I'm not stalking you either."

"Then how do you know my name?"

"Tyler was screaming at you in the restaurant before he threw the glass at you." He ran his thumb against a cut on her cheek. "This wasn't from the car crash. This was from the glass."

The way he talked so softly quickened her breathing. So dangerous, but so gentle. His simple touch made Caroline wonder if he wanted to simply caress and admire her or strangle her. She wanted to slap his hand off her face, but the new anger in his eyes shut her idea down.

"I've been tracking Tyler for some time. I don't know his every move, but I most likely can guess. He was going to propose to you at twelve midnight if the night went smoothly. Then he got mad because of the jacket I gave you. He was also triggered because of someone who's name he didn't mention."

He once again leaned into her. "I'm sorry you had to experience that because of my mission. It was not my intetion to have him react so aggresively. I had thought he matured. If I wasn't on my mission, I would've snapped his neck in a second for taking someone so exquisite for granted."

The sincerity of his accented voice against her ear could make her melt. He wanted to help her? To stand up for her, but he couldn't because of his plan.

_Someone cared enough to even consider helping me. Someone _wanted_ to protect me. _Caroline mentally scolded herself._ He also wants to murder Tyler, you moron. So get that selfish idea out of your head. _She saw him as a cold hearted, terrifying murder. _At the same time, h__e's so- _not_ attractive and dangerous and not Tyler. _She reminded herself.

"If you would like, I could make it up to you." He smiled.

"Stop trying to seduce me, you creep. I need to find Tyler asap."

"You cannot wander this forest on your own, sweetheart. You have to trust me."

Caroline scoffed, "trust the man that's trying to kill my boyfriend. I don't even know your name and you expect me to bow down and worship you? You're the definition of in over your head."

He seemed to laugh at her bravery. "I am Niklaus Mikaelson. You can call me Klaus, that's what all my friends call me. Now you need to follow me in case you get into trouble." Klaus held out his hand, "I'm your best chance."

* * *

Klaus smiled as she walked past him. "Okay then. Since we are traveling companions now, I have a few rules. Number one, no lying. There will be absolutely no tolerance for the telling of lies. Number two, I am in charge. You have no experience of navigation or tracking. If I let you lead, we wouldn't find Tyler in a millennia. Then three, no secrets. Secrets will cause cracks in our newly developed relationship and we wouldn't want that."

Caroline thought about it for a second. "Fine Klaus, I agree to your terms and conditions. Now according to rule three, you have to answer a question. How did Tyler and I get into an accident? You've been following Tyler 'for some time' now. I want to know what happened. I'm guessing it was the dumb engine of that old, beat up car engine but I need clarification."

Klaus caught up with her. "Well if you want the simple truth, I blew your jeep up."

She gasped and he rolled his eyes. "You're the reason Tyler is gone! And the reason our tour guide is dead!"

"Trust me, that was not how I planned it to happen, love-"

"Don't 'love' me asshole! Someone is dead and someone is missing because of you!"

"It wouldn't be the first."

"This is not a joking matter!" Caroline shouted.

Klaus was getting irritated. Did she not have the capability to listen? "Neither was Tyler choking you."

Caroline stopped and quieted down.

"Yes, I planned to get Tyler and the driver into a bloody car crash. The driver died like he was supposed to, it was inevitable. Tyler was supposed to be in a state of shock before I drove a knife in his heart. That did not happen because you weren't supposed to be there."

"W-what do you mean?"

"I thought you wouldn't be in the car because you two were having a lovers quarrel."

"That doesn't answer my question. Why wasn't I just another one of your innocent casualties who dies for 'the mission'?" Caroline rolled her eyes.

"I threw the explosive too early."

Caroline scoffed again.

That angered him. She was so difficult. "I threw the explosive too early for you, sweetheart. Tyler was going to kill you and because of that, I threw it too early. Now Tyler is gone thinking he has outsmarted me! Because of you, Tyler is alive instead of on the floor without life in his eyes!"

Caroline shut her mouth.

Klaus saw the fear in her eyes and regretted for shouting. "I apologize for raising my voice. We need to get going so we can find little Lockwood." Klaus started to walk fowards.

"Don't flatter yourself, you murderer. I rather die by the jaws of an aligator than at your hands." Caroline said in response to him smiling as she moved closer to him.

"Then why are you here?"

"Snakes will always be my biggest fear." Klaus laughed at her response and they continued onward. What a compatible pair.

. . .

"It's pitch black and Tyler's no where to be seen." Caroline continued to cry. "And it hurts everywhere and I'm cold and have nowhere to stay. I'm also with you, a ruthless psychopath who will kill me if I make one wrong move."

"Sweetheart, I'm not going to hurt you. I'll find somewhere for us to stay if you're tired."

Klaus looked down at her leg that continued to ooze blood. He told her he couldn't take it out because there was nothing to clean it with. It would get infected quickly because there was nothing to clean it with. Caroline was only wearing a short sleeveless bodysuit and Klaus wore a long sleeved shirt with black pants. No extra clothing to wrap it with. The dust and dirt particles would get into the deep gash and just make it problematic.

A faint sound in the distance caught his ear. Klaus stopped and began to listen. He recognized the sound. Running water. It was maybe a thousand meters away. "Come on love, not much longer."

After ten minutes of walking, Klaus spotted a small waterfall with a cave covered in moss behind it. _Jackpot. _Caroline sighed in relief and quickened her pace.

When they got to the cave the two sat there in silence. They were exhausted. Caroline's sniffles broke the quiet after some time. "Caroline, what's the matter?"

She bit her lip to contain her cries, but it failed. "Tyler was supposed to propose to me but he didn't because of my stupidity. Because I accepted a nice gesture and defended my friend that he hates. Then the highlight of our trip was ruined when I tried to talk to him about the incident like a dumb bitch. I should've just gotten over it and try to forget, but no. I couldn't just let another one slide."

_Another one? Tyler's been hurting her like this before? _

"Then our jeep crashed and Tyler is missing and that innocent tour guide is dead because of me. He could have a spouse and a family and now he's dead and no one knows. Then there's you. You're attempting to kill Tyler and I can't do shit to stop it! I'm scared to run because I know you'll catch me. I know too much, don't I? About how you look, your name and you being a killer. You'll never let me go. You might as well put me in a coffin and nail it shut. What's worse is that you're the only chance I have to see him again. Now we're lost with no food or chance of getting help. In conclusion this is the worst birthday ever!" She sobbed into her hands.

Had he put all these challenges and loads of pain on this precious little lady? On her birthday? Klaus didn't know what to say. All he could come up with was, "those are not your fault."

"Yes they are. If I didn't agree to come to Brazil, I'd be with Tyler right now. He would embrace me and tell me that he loves me no matter what. Maybe I'd have an engagement ring on. Not the picture of small black box that was never opened. The picture that shows up after I think about how much I hurt the love of my life."

Caroline was completely bawling her eyes out and that left Klaus in utter discomfort and a difficult situation. The academy of the organization had taught him nothing on this subject. Assassins were emotionless on missions and your partners and colleagues were the only people that mattered. Regular human life meant nothing and you should care nothing about their feelings. So what was he supposed to do when a gorgeous, feisty but vulnerable blonde poured her heart out to him? The only person he had comforted in his life was his sister. The big difference with this was that Caroline was not his family. She was a complete stranger who resented him.

_Just do something Niklaus. You are not a coward. She also cannot hate you more than she does now. You have everything to gain and nothing to lose._

Klaus sighed quietly and wrapped his arms around her frail, shivering body. Caroline stopped crying for a second and look at him. The whites of her eyes were now bloodshot and the red brightened her sky blue irises. Caroline searched his own eyes as if she was looking into his soul. Klaus was about to let go but when she crawled onto him and burried her face into his shoulder, he decided otherwise. She contined to cry into him as he caressed her golden locks and rubbed her back. Klaus's sense of touch seemed to be heightened. Her body pressed against him and her tears soaking into his sweater, he could feel everything. He thought of the many he could do with her.

"These circumstances are not your fault sweetheart. Tyler lashed out at you for nothing at all. He got jealous and angry for a petty reason."

"That doesn't excuse the driver. He's dead and alone."

"He deserved to die." Klaus muttered under his breath. "He was going to let Tyler kill you and force Tyler to pay for his ever so useful silence. I've experienced it first hand."

"Tyler wasn't going to kill me. He's a football player, not a murderer. I know that he'd never do that. It's never crossed my mind before."

Klaus could tell she was lying, but he would let this one slide. He also didn't want to tell her that he had taught Tyler that technique. It was too soon and the wrong time. Instead of yelling, he stroked the silky blonde hair that belonged to her.

"Klaus?"

"Yes Caroline?"

"I'm scared."

"Scared?"

"I'm scared that I'll never see Tyler again. Or anything out of this place for that matter. I'm scared because we're lost and we'll never get out."

"I'm not going to let that-"

"Maybe you'll leave me here stranded in the middle of the night. I mean, why wouldn't you? You have no reason to keep me along. I hate you and I'm terrified of you so why are you letting me tag along? I'm just a useless tool that you have to lug around with you."

Caroline was sobbing hard and Klaus took a deep breath. "I know you have no reason to, but you have to trust me love. I'm not going to abandon you. Do you understand me?"

He felt Caroline nod into him and her crying got softer and softer. She was finally falling asleep. Before she drifted into a deep slumber at the cause of her stressful day, Klaus pressed his lips against her ear and whispered, "goodnight and happy birthday Caroline."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey this is the third chapter. Enjoy, favourite, follow and review!**

* * *

Caroline opened her eyes slowly. The hot rays of the sun shone through the mouth of the cave and into them. When she regained consciousness of her surroundings, she felt something soft under her head compared to the cold dark rock underneath her. Caroline sat up slowly, wincing with every movement. She had to get out this glass out soon or she might just die.

There was a shirt folded into a square where her head used to be. It was a dark grey long sleeved shirt. It was Klaus's shirt. Why the hell was Klaus's shirt her pillow? Wait, if this was Klaus's shirt, then where was Klaus?

Caroline scrambled to her feet. "Klaus? Klaus! Where are you?" Caroline shouted frantically once she was out of the cave.

To be honest, half of her was not surprised. Caroline knew this would happen. He wasn't here. He left her alone. All alone in the Amazon to wander around by herself. After her cry last night and her letting it go and telling him, she thought he would at least stay with her until morning.

_He promised. He promised me he would stay. _

Caroline slumped down and tucked her head into her knees.

_This is a total nightmare. Klaus is gone and all he left me was his dumbass shirt. Yesterday he was all about keeping me safe and I guess now he finally realized I was extra baggage slowing him down. I'll never see Tyler again. I'll be trapped here with no cell phone and no knowledge about survival. I'm going to die. _

Caroline shook her head after she heard her thoughts. She almost laughed at how pathetic she sounded.

_No_ _negativity_. _Not now Caroline, you can't give up just yet. You cannot afford to break down again. You can't get in your own way when Tyler's life could be on the line. You need to get your ass up and start looking for Tyler._

A sigh left her mouth before she lifted her head. She was going to find Tyler and get out of here with or without Klaus. He didn't matter, Tyler was her priority and the British bastard wanted to kill him anyways.

Caroline stood up and dusted herself off. She started to walk with her head held high and every intention to leave when she bumped into some tall rocks. Nature was always getting her way these days. Something fell onto her face and she shrieked thinking it the thing feared most.

Second most, but it was just under by a teeny tiny bit.

Nevertheless, still completely terrifying. Well of course not so much after she found out it was a pair of pants, not a poisonous rattle snake. Caroline threw the pants on the ground, enraged that a piece of _clothing_ had gotten the better of her.

_Wait... aren't these Klaus's pants? _Caroline thought as she balanced on her toes to get a better look. From her search, she found black socks, white sneakers and mens underwear.

That was very gross.

_If all of Klaus's clothes are here then... _

Caroline looked towards the deep pool of bright blue water. Could Klaus be-

A splash erupted from the pool of water underneath the waterfall causing her to scream once again. "Hello love. How can I help you?"

After recovering and catching her breath from her heart attack, Caroline needed to talk some sense into that jerk. "Seriously?! Goddamn you Klaus! I went into a mini stage of embarrassment, denial and your _underwear_ just to find you playing marco polo with me!"

Klaus swam towards her until he got to the jagged edge of the natural pool. "I'm sorry, did I give you fright?" He laughed.

"You and your pants!"

"After all that troublesome going through my pants, how would you like to see me without them?"

"You sick son of a bitch!" Caroline shouted while pushing him back underwater. She crossed her arms as he broke through the surface and floated back to her.

"You should see your face right now, Caroline."

"Don't with me now." Caroline winced while making herself comfortable. This dumb leg was giving her shit.

Klaus looked at her leg that was crusted with mahogany blood that once was runny and crimson. "I need to take care of that."

Caroline nodded, a bit scared. I mean he was an assassin, what was he supposed to know about medical stuff? "I hope you know what you're doing. Promise me you're not just going to kiss it better."

"Take off your glass slipper, Cinderella."

One of the many mysteries that Caroline could never figure out was how his face remained so serious when he made little jokes like that.

First, she slid her black and white sneaker off then her little pink ankle sock. It revealed her cute yellow and white pedicured toes that she had gotten for trips to the beach.

As if Klaus knew what Caroline was thinking, he stopped her right before she tried to take her injured leg out of the cross legged position she was in.

"I'll handle the rest from here dear." He pulled her leg out gently and submerged it in water. It wasn't salt water, for that she was extremely grateful. It already hurt like a bitch enough. He rubbed his fingers around the wound, washing all the blood off.

Caroline cringed for him. _Isn't__ this disgusting for him? I mean, Tyler thinks its gross to deal with other people's blood. Like that one time Tyler 'accidentally' shoved me and I scraped my knee really bad. There was blood everywhere but he wouldn't even look at me. _

Caroline shook her head._ It _was_ an accident, Caroline. He pushed you accidentally, no sarcasm. This murderer doesn't care because he basically feeds on human blood. He will _never_ compare to Tyler. _

"Is something wrong, sweetheart? Does it hurt?" Klaus asked rubbing his thumb lightly over it.

"Um no, not at all. ... Just isn't that kind of disgusting for you to do that? I don't want you to get my gross blood all over you." That wasn't lying. It was a half truth and Klaus cannot read minds.

This one was allowed to slide.

Klaus smiled. "My hands have gotten way dirtier than this love. Now it's time for the hard part. Don't scream or I'll get distracted by your distress and stop. It will prolong your suffering."

The feeling of Klaus's long fingers inside her leg wasn't pleasant, even after she braced herself. Caroline didn't dare to scream at the feeling of him prying her gash open. Her teeth bit into her lip to stop her from making unnecessary noises and Caroline tried her best to not squirm. The clenched jaw and squeezed shut eyes, were just additional coping strategies.

Then it stopped. The pain diminished gigantically. A sigh of relief parted from her lips before she could stop it. Her bright blue eyes opened once again and met the deep blue-green ones that belonged to the murderous monster. Caroline only realized that her fingernails were digging into Klaus's shoulders once she let go. Her eyes were locked onto his and she couldn't pull away from his gaze.

"Sorry," she muttered.

The once dirty blonde curls on his head were now dark and ring like. A few strands got in the way of his eyes.

Caroline couldn't describe it. His intense but soft eyes, the dark rings of wet hair, his chest that glistened from the sun hitting the water on it. Even the tattoo of birds on his shoulder. Everything, all his features, pulled her eyes towards him. What was worse was, she couldn't pry them away from Klaus.

No matter how many times Caroline denied it, she knew.

He was stunning.

His hands stroked her leg underwater before he pulled it to the surface. Laying a kiss on her shin was the last thing she expected him to do. It was soft and sent tingles throughout her body.

"All better. Now wash up Caroline. Then we'll be on our way."

* * *

"If you can hear me, this is Klaus Mikaelson. I am in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil. I've gotten myself into a little conundrum. Send in the better of the Salvatore brothers. Track me with the watch. Come as fast as you can, Lockwood has slipped away from me."

Klaus picked up his shirt from the bottom of the cave. He hoped that someone got his message of urgency. He and Caroline needed to get out of here.

The thought of Caroline came into his head and he shook his head. What was wrong with him? Was he growing obsessed with this girl? The comforting, then the kiss. He was sure she would kick him back into the water, but instead she stayed at the edge of the pool until he left. Klaus found himself smiling when he heard Caroline scold herself for not reacting differently.

If Caroline was not hot headed and very much infatuated with Tyler, he would've done way more than kiss her. The way she was looking at him while he was in the water was peculiar. It was as if he saw him as more than a cold blooded assassin. As if he was a regular human being.

Now Caroline was all dressed up again in front of him. "Let's get going, Tyler could be anywhere."

"Exactly why this is so difficult."

"You don't always have to be a pessimist." Caroline rolled her eyes as she began to walk, "and put your shirt on."

Klaus caught her by her hand. "Wait a tick," He ripped the sleeves off his shirt and Caroline rolled her eyes again.

"Wow, I'm so impressed. That was super hot." Caroline imitated someone batting their eyelashes and twirling their hair.

"Why thank you for accepting me as the perfect dickhead I am." This made Caroline laugh and it felt good. His sleeve went around the bottom part of her leg. It covered her deep cut. He made sure it was tight and stood up. "Arm."

She scoffed with a smile and held out her arm. The second sleeve went around where the other piece of glass used to be. "Now we can go."

"How do you even know all this medical stuff? Aren't you supposed to hurt not heal?"

"You're certainly oblivious Caroline. Just because I'm an assassin doesn't mean the organization doesn't teach us things here and there. It's for survival."

"Why do you call it 'the organization'? Doesn't it have a name? Or are you keeping secrets?"

"No, it's just not an appropriate time to share with you. Once I figure out what to do with you, I'll tell you. I've never been caught before and I don't intend to. I will not be thrown into prison because I was dumb enough to spill all my dirty little secrets to a blonde. No offence, sweetheart."

Caroline looked at him in disbelief. "Are you calling me a retard because of my hair colour?!"

"I'm not going as far as retarded but your kind is certainly... challenged in some places," Klaus teased.

"Us blondes are discriminated against because some people are jealous guys want us. Plus studies show that _we're_ better in bed."

"I get it. It's a stereotype, don't worry. I happen to know a few smart blondes."

"Stop teasing."

"I'm not, I swear it."

"What are you gonna say? Aurora and Cinderella."

"Not exactly. I recall you telling me your name was Caroline."

Her cheeks were a pale pink and she tried to hide her bashful smile from him, but he had already caught a glimpse of it. Caroline cleared her throat awkwardly. "You said a few. I'm only one person."

"Well one is my mother and another is my sister. They will most certainly _not_ come in your Disney princess packages, but you're always required to treat them like royalty."

She laughed again and it sent a warm feeling across his body. "You boys wouldn't understand. No matter what hair colour, you should treat every girl like a princess. Unless of course you're dating someone. So treat every girl you're dating like a princess and regulars decently."

"Tyler didn't seem to get that message."

Caroline sighed. "It's not his fault. He has anger issues, he can't control himself sometimes."

"Why didn't he recieve help? If Tyler loved you so deeply, why didn't he change himself to be better for you?"

"He did..."

"What did we say about lying?"

"Fine, he was trying."

Klaus raised an eyebrow and Caroline looked at the ground. "I don't know why he didn't try to change. I never really pressured him into anything, I tried to keep any anger outbursts as lowkey as possible. You see, my friends and I are really close. We know everything about each other. They're close to Tyler too. If they found out, they'd isolate him for the things he's done. I don't want him to live in pain because of me."

"Outbursts? What do you mean outbursts?" Klaus's tone was serious now, growing almost dangerous.

"I don't want to tell anyone about it. I feel safer when I keep it to myself." This was another lie, but he contained his growing anger. If Tyler had done what he thinks he'd done...

"Caroline. No secrets."

"Fine. At times, he'd shout at me while punching and hitting walls beside my face. Tyler would slam doors and he's accidentally pushed me and shoved me and hit me..."

Klaus felt rage bubbling up to the surface. Tyler was abusing this incredibly pure human being because he got frustrated. Typical Lockwood move. Klaus thought he had taught him how to control his anger. On top of that, Caroline put up with it because she loved him so much and knew that her friends would shun his sorry ass if they found out.

He opened his mouth to speak his mind, but Caroline interrupted him. "Please don't say anything."

"Why?" Klaus had trouble containing his voice but shoved it down when he saw that the blonde's bright blue eyes were still fixed on the Amazon floor. "Do you have more to say? What more could he have possibly done to you?"

Her eyes stayed fixated on the ground even when Klaus called her name. "I think I'm done talking."

"Number three states-"

"I know the rules! You get to keep your organization secret, this is my one time pass."

"I refrain from telling you such for your own safety. I am keeping it from you so perhaps you might not have to suffer the same fate as our dear friend Tyler. Yours is just a petty secret that you don't want to talk about." All of Klaus's willpower was in use to stop him from exclaiming on the top of his lungs.

"That's exactly why I don't want to tell you this, Klaus. You're already want to kill Tyler and this won't help me convince you otherwise." Caroline finally looked at him. Her gaze was stern and piercing. Klaus could spot the sadness behind her gaze and felt a twinge of an unknown feeling.

"I have no idea how the hell your organization works, but whoever told you to kill Tyler has nothing on you. You don't have to do it."

Now would be the perfect time for him to scoff, but for some reason he didn't. Perhaps he was too invested in their little quarrel. "You're oblivious to how my world works Caroline. You will never get as close to my corrupt world than meeting me. Your world consists of different hardships and trials than mine. I pray that you will never experience what I have to go through on a usual basis."

"See," Caroline stopped in her tracks as if she was exasperated with the conversation. Klaus didn't feel much different. "I don't know why you act this way. You're acting like..."

"Like what love?"

"Like I actually mean a damn to you."

Klaus did not respond to what she was suggesting. He didn't care about her, she was just fascinating to him. He would not let her come to anymore harm because he did not like the idea of seeing her hurt. It would only slow them down.

Caroline was not just pretty. Pretty is too much of a shallow adjective to describe her. The woman was alluring and perfect in every nook and cranny. She was like an old painting, exquisite and delicate. Except old paintings were not abused by the psychopath he was going to destroy the second he laid eyes on him. Now that it was confirmed Tyler hurt Caroline it fuelled his hatred, but not because he cared.

Absolutely not.

"Once I say anything, it's going to endanger Tyler's safety because I know if you hear this, you'll want to kill him even more because of your morals. Well, if you have morals. I just don't want you to only brutally murder him because he's made some mistakes."

"I want to hear. I will not promise anything against what I have already stated."

Caroline gave up and finally succumbed. "In addition to all the things I've already said, once or twice he's gotten a little rough. More than a little rough, actually. More than once or twice." Caroline refused to meet Klaus's eyes.

"Rough how, Caroline?"

"Seriously? Are you really doing this right now? I think you get it."

"Answer my question."

"Fine, he's raped me! If you wanted me to say it so bad! God..."

_No. I had taught Tyler better than this. I did not train Tyler to go as low as a rapist. This is utterly disappointing. Everywhere Lockwood goes, he attempts to damage something innocent with no fault. Caroline deserves better. _

Klaus reached out to lift her face. He wanted to see her eyes, to see if she was lying. He heard no waver in her voice, but he had to be sure.

Caroline swatted his hand away. "What? Are you going to taunt me now for not being strong enough to push him away? It's not that easy you know. I'm not strong and I can't take lessons without looking suspicious. Tyler's supposed to protect me, but what was I suppose to do when he hurt me?"

Klaus held the hand that she hit him with and felt the side of her face. Her skin was soft. He ran his thumb under her eye, "you're not crying. This is suppose to be traumatic."

"I've learned how to bottle it up inside," Caroline sat down. He took the spot beside her. "I don't want anyone to suspect anything. Like Elena and Bonnie. They're best friends with Tyler too. I especially don't want my friend Damon to find out, he hates Tyler enough already."

Klaus worked with someone named Damon who hated Tyler as well. Smiling at the coincidence would be his reaction if he wasn't so bloody angry.

"I don't know why he did it though. I know I'm kind of annoying, but when I think back on what happened, I feel like-"

A droplet of water fell on Klaus's pants and he looked at her to see the tears finally starting to fall. _Oh no, here come the waterworks. _

"God, I'm so pathetic," her palms were now pressed against her eyes.

"You're not pathetic. Keep on going, I'm listening."

"I feel like, like I didn't deserve it. I know I made tons of mistakes, but I don't think I should've gotten hurt for it. I don't want to tell anyone because I know they're going to look at me like damaged goods. I want to be seen as my content self. Not someone who got raped because she couldn't stop messing the hell up."

"No matter what mistakes they've made, no one deserves that." Klaus traced random patterns on her back, hoping it would soothe her. It worked quite well on his sister.

A sigh left Caroline's lips. "How come even though I'm terrifyed of you, you calm me down when I'm bawling my eyes out?"

"Well, I have been comforting my little sister, Rebekah, since we were children. She is my heart and I hate it when anything happens to her. Very troublesome and quite irritating, but she comes to me before she goes to mother and I cannot necessarily turn her down."

"Has something like this happen to her too?" Caroline sniffed. Her hair was damp and cool against the scalding sun when she rested her head on his shoulder.

"Unfortunately, yes. It was by a man named Alexander. He was the enemy and Rebekah knew that. Despite all of me and my brothers warnings, she fell in love with him. He sweet talked her into thinking that he wasn't evil and convinced her he didn't think that everyone in the organization needed to be purged. One night, he suduced her into his bedroom and stuck a dagger in her back, and left her there to die. Then Alexander and his puny little squad attempted to slaughter the rest of my family after he tricked Rebekah into giving him the location of the organizition. Luckily, I stopped them."

"How did you do that?"

"I tore out Alexander's tongue and shoved a knife through his heart before he got to me. Then I slaughtered the rest of the lot. I found Rebekah at the brink of death and since then, I've had to put a leash so her idiocy will no longer get the best of her." Klaus felt Caroline shudder and he stopped. "Was that too graphic for you, love?"

"No, I'm fine," she answered.

"Good. I wasn't going to stop either way." A small half smile appeared on her face and a miniature wave of accomplishment washed over him. "Rebekah has always gotten remarks on her looks so I don't mind that much. However, anyone who has tried to hurt her is either disabled, paralyzed or dead so that's that. Some people lable me as overprotective. I personally don't see it."

"So is Rebekah your favourite out of all of them?"

"Yes," he lied. Not exactly a lie, a half truth. Something she needed not to worry about.

"My older brother Elijah makes a close second. Okay, he makes a fairly close second. Then there is Kol and Finn. Even though Kol is self centered and reckless, two of the worst traits in the world, and compacted into this narcissistic brat, I'd choose him over Finn any day. Finn does not interest me. No one but our mother and Rebekah cared much for him. He is gone who knows where with this irritating redhead named Sage. Ratty old thing if I'm being honest. Kol is much more fun and we get into tons of trouble together." Caroline stifled a laugh and he gave her a half smile before continuing. "There is also my eldest sister, Freya. I used to despise her but she was quite a help to me when I went on a long term mission. I believe I enjoy her company mare than I do Kol's. Then there is my mother. She is the co-head of the organization. The woman is extremely terrifying and overprotective of her children. Maybe that's where I got it from. Anyways, I actually recall many agents running out of her office with urine dripping down their legs."

"Ugh," she scruched her nose and smiled while slapping his arm. "You could've left that part out. So your whole family is part of the big bad group of killers? What about your dad?"

"I never met my biological dad. My father who raised me is dead. Enough with the gruesome talk now, we have to start on our way. Help may already be on theirs."

Caroline's face lit up, "help? Someone's coming to get us out of here? When, how did you?"

"While you were bathing in the pool, I tried to contacting one of my 'friends' from the organization."

"We're really leaving?"

"Don't get your hopes up love, I'm not sure it went through. With the distance between here and the headquarters or living space of the organization, combined with no service or a connection factor helping my watch that I used to contact him, I have absolutely no way of knowing if it went through or not. And there will be no looking for or killing Lockwood after that."

"Well, I can't give up. Not now, I can't afford it. I'll find him if it kills me and I will protect him with my life, Klaus." He rolled his eyes. "C'mon you negative Nancy- Niklaus." She corrected and began to walk.

He hated when people who were not his family called him that but when Caroline said it, he made an exception. The way Niklaus rolled off of her tongue and into his ears. It was almost intoxicating.

Klaus caught up with her and for once his thoughts were not all targeted towards ripping Tyler Lockwood's heart out of his chest. For the beautiful, cliche, golden blonde with bright blue eyes had stolen his attention.


	4. Chapter 4

Help was not on the way.

The message did not go through.

No one was coming to get them.

It had been three days since Klaus asked someone to come and save the two of them. He said he would try again, but his super handy watch was now dead. It was obvious no one heard his cry for help.

There was no sign of Tyler either and this made Caroline wonder if he had gotten out already. Maybe she dragged Klaus here for no reason at all. Tyler might be safe and sound or back in the hotel, he could even be in Mystic Falls.

If he is in Mystic Falls, what would he tell our friends? That he left me for dead in a flame consumed jeep? No, that would make him sound like a dick. Tyler could tell them I got lost or I mysteriously disappeared. Could I be considered a missing person back there? Hell, for all I know, I could be considered dead in Mystic Falls.

Thoughts about how her funeral would look flooded her aching head. I am always the one who sings at funerals. Who would do it for me? Maybe Elena would be nice enough to take my place. Yeah, Elena would sing.

Mom would be there. If she told dad he might show up too. Someone could even invite Katherine back, so she could finally see me again after traveling the world for so long. The only catch is that I would be a cold, lifeless corpse. If Katherine did come, would she cry? She's kind of a stone cold bitch compared to her sister Elena. Yeah, she would cry, they were too close when she still lived in Mystic Falls. All my friends would cry during the ceremony.

That made her sad. She did not want to imagine her friend crying for her. Like Stefan of all people, crying. Her heart couldn't take it.

Damon and Alaric wouldn't cry. They'd stay strong and comfort everyone then drink bourbon together at the grill. Jeremy wouldn't either, he's strong and his twin sisters would need him. Jeremy would also support Matt and Tyler. That is if Tyler even cared to show up. His guilt might stop him the morning of.

Caroline grew angrier and colder towards Tyler with every passing hour. After the work week being here, her guilt for Tyler's disappearance stopped clouding her judgement. It made her start asking the tough questions. For example, why would he leave her alone to die? Was she actually mad at him, or was this just a way to cope with the giant hole in her heart?

The line between the two options were too blurred for her to figure out which one it was. Klaus had a part in that. He was trying to convince her that Tyler was a bad person for putting no effort into their relationship and all the pain he'd caused her. Physical and mental. Of course Caroline rebuked the idea, but some of his words seeped into her head.

They had spent the past five days together and all he did was talk. Kill Tyler this, kill Tyler that. Dismembering bodies, the organization. Dysfunctional, deranged family. Love, sweetheart, beautiful, gorgeous. Blah, blah, blah. Let's not forget the offensive, dirty jokes he always put in here and there about her.

Every day, they would get up, drink as much fresh water they could and walk. They'd look for help and for Tyler. Then they would argue and Caroline would put the topic to the side without seeking a proper apology. It was better that way. Better than her showing her anger and hatred towards someone who could kill her. Then, they'd find a place with any kind of running water and fall asleep together.

Of course it wasn't like Caroline wouldn't love to sleep by herself, but her fashion choices didn't do her any good on a damp floor or cold rock. Klaus had this strange kind of comforting warmth to him. He also agreed to stay with her until she woke up in the morning. His strong arms encircled her in the cool night and the heat of his body put her to sleep easier.

Klaus' accented voice whispered quiet goodnights or sweet dreams in her ear when he thought she was fast asleep. Her breath would hitch or her heart would pound at her ribcage when he got close. Caroline only reacted like this because she felt a small sense of fear and tension with the sexy, British, dirty blonde assassin.

The little goodnight wishes were sweet though. It was nice to know that he had a heart underneath the layers of hostility, dark humour and static emotion.

They had not said a word to each other today. It was like Klaus had finally given up too. Though she would miss his comical relief, Caroline couldn't blame him. It looked like their Amazon scavenger hunt was pointless. No Tyler, no help, no getting out of there.

"Are you also in the stage of utter disappointment and denial?" She nodded at him and he closed his eyes. "What were you thinking about?"

"What my funeral would be like back in Mystic Falls." Caroline let out a dry laugh before sighing.

"I bloody hate funerals," Klaus commented.

"I was also theorizing about the possibility of Tyler already escaping back to Mystic Falls. What he would tell my friends. If he'd tell them that he left me alone and trapped in a burning car with a corpse that used to be a driver. He might tell them if he wanted me to burn to death or if he just forgot his girlfriend who loves him with her whole heart and made a stupid mistake that she wants to forget about."

"I couldn't care less about Tyler at the moment. I want to drink bloody alcohol and paint landscapes with the blood of my enemies." Klaus said in a monotonic voice.

"I couldn't agree more with your first desire."

"That you couldn't care less about Tyler?"

Caroline shook her head and smiled. Even at times like this Klaus could joke around with a stone cold face and a voice laced with amusement.

If the assassin could make jokes, certainly a former cheerleader could use her sense of humour. "That's not a desire, Klaus. Since you do not understand the meaning of a word as simple as desire, we'll need to do something about your under educated brain."

With a curious look in his eyes, Klaus turned to face her, "and what might that be?"

Caroline thought about it for a minute and then was content with her little activity. "Simple. A lesson on E.L.A. every week from now on. One of us will choose a word. Then we'll share the definition and a sentence containing the word in a proper context. After, the other will say their own sentence proving that they've learned the correct meaning."

"I am not a primary school student. I'm an adult, love."

"That doesn't matter, this'll be fun and take our mind off of our starvation."

Caroline winced at her words. Starvation. Now she remembered she was starving. Dying of hunger, literally. The last thing Caroline ate was guava she found at the bottom of a tree two days ago. The trees were way too tall to climb and way too sturdy to shake.

Klaus was even hungrier than her. He gave her half of everything he ate which meant he was going off of nothing. She was sure he had trained for this kind of stuff because he still maintained his posture and decency, unlike her. Even though her stomach was empty, she still felt nauseous.

"Mmm..." Caroline thought. "We'll call it the... word of the week."

"How original."

"Do you have any suggestions?" Klaus raised his hands up as if he was pleading not guilty. "I didn't think so," she snapped. "Add this to your list of rules, this is good quality stuff."

"If you insist, your majesty." Klaus rolled his eyes. "I, Klaus Mikaelson, hereby declare, 'words of the week' to be the official rule number four. I bestow this responsibility on Caroline..."

"Forbes."

"Caroline Forbes. She's in charge of reminding herself and I about this weekly activity. That does not change rule number two though, I am still the big man behind the screen." Caroline giggled and he gave her a charming half smile. "There. It's done and over with."

"Good. This will be our first ever word of the week. My turn, of course, because I'm in charge of this. The word is desire. Definition, to want something badly. Sentence. I desire food. Now your turn."

"I desire the spilt blood of Tyler Lockwood," Klaus smiled. Caroline gave him a look, "or a kiss from my traveling companion would suffice."

"Really?" She clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"If you're looking for something more intense, I certainly have other options that use different body parts."

Caroline rolled her eyes and smiled at his self confidence. Klaus's flirting was definitely a turn off... but it's not like she was ever turned on. I wonder how many dumb bimbos fell for this. They've boosted his ego off the charts. Not surprised if he was never turned down. Maybe he can compel people to find him attractive. Her thoughts left her mind for a moment. Compel who? Oh yeah, dumb bitches.

"Stop flirting with me, you horny dog. All you boys are the same, desperate for sex." Caroline laughed.

"Men? What about women? Women desire for men to dominate them. They act as if they're all innocent, but when push comes to shove, they're the sex hungry ones."

Caroline gasped, "show some respect, Klaus!"

"Tell me I'm wrong sweetheart."

"You're wrong." An eyebrow raise changed her answer. "Okay you're partially wrong. Not all women are like that. You guys make things like this up to so you feel high and mighty. Some of us aren't desperate like most of the prostitutes you sleep with."

Klaus bit back a laugh. "Prostitutes? Let me tell you, everyone I've slept with begged me to do them."

Caroline gasped. "Wow Klaus! You've suddenly turned oh so hot in my eyes because you have a high body count!"

"What about you?"

"What do you mean what about me?"

"I mean are you a prostitute or a non-desperate?"

"Why would I tell you? It's none of your business."

"I take that as an invitation for me to guess. So, let's see. You're too fierce to be shy and innocent. It'd be idiotic if I thought you're complete submissive. I don't think you're dominant either. You're too strong and outgoing to have a timid boyfriend. You like a challenge don't you, Caroline? You're right in the middle of too confident and boring."

Caroline pressed her lips together. Dammit, did he know her better than she knew herself?

"Lucky guess?"

"Whatever," she grumbled. "It was not an invitation by the way."

"Is that so, because if I hinted for you to guess anything about me, you'd jump at the chance."

After Klaus finished his statement she didn't care to listen to, it went quiet again. Their minds were back on their exhaustion. The sun was as hot as a bake oven and Caroline felt lightheaded. Her hunger did not help her case.

Caroline was so tired of wandering around in a desert disguised jungle and was amazed she didn't have third degree burns on her exposed skin. Her legs and arms were cramping while her head was pounding.

Where am I again? She thought, oh yeah. Rainforest. With Klaus. Caroline's stomach felt like it was doing a back handspring. She would vomit, but there was nothing for her to throw up.

Her knees started to go weak and her head started to spin. What was going on with her? Her breaths got shallower by the second, she didn't think she could stand much longer. "Klaus, I don't feel so good..." Before she could finish her sentence, blackness replaced her vision of the dreadful green rainforest.

"Klaus, I don't feel so good." Klaus mentally rolled his eyes, thinking it was another one of her muscle cramps. He turned to tell her that everything was alright and that they could take a break, but couldn't as she started to fall.

Klaus's built in reflexes caught her swiftly and sat down on his knees with her on his lap. What happened to her?

Oh bloody hell, he thought.

Usually her face was pale and her cheeks would be tinted pink. Now, it was almost ghost like. Klaus felt her forehead. It was clammy and soaked in sweat. Caroline's skin was cool and her heart beat weakly at a rapid pace.

Despite what was happening, all these were pretty good signs compared to what he thought would happen to her. Klaus was always worried about Caroline's health. He didn't know her limits or if she had any conditions he didn't know of. All he essentially knew was, Caroline was not supposed to keep up with him. Yet she did, with the sheer strength of her will. It was as if she was a warrior without a sword.

Caroline was having heat exhaustion, not a heat stroke. He remembered reading on this, her symptoms were of heat exhaustion. She was working so hard with barely any nutrition in ninety degrees Fahrenheit heat. Klaus was relieved it wasn't as serious as heat stroke, but it could easily turn into that. He needed to get her to water and shade immediately.

Come on sweetheart, hang in there. He thought to himself, I won't let anything hurt you.

Klaus put her arm around his neck and picked her up. Holding onto her tight, he ran. He ran as if he was being chased by four highly trained opponents with guns. As if he was being chased down by his father. Only this time, he did not move for his own life. He moved for the only thing that had kept his spirits up for the past few days. The bundle of bubbles, energy, and fiery passion was now corpse like in his arms. Klaus would've thought she was if he didn't feel the faint rising and falling of her chest.

It usually took the both of them a day's work to find somewhere decent to stay. Now Klaus was by himself looking for somewhere to go in the next, well five minutes at most. Caroline needed to get better as soon as possible.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Klaus found something far off. He sprinted with all his might and sighed with utter relief at the sight. If there was a God, he certainly wanted Caroline to live.

Who wouldn't?

A circle of small waterfalls rained down from tall cliffs which were covered head to toe in deciduous trees. The water that fell from the falls was collected in a large pond that grew by the second.

When Klaus peeled his eyes from the sight, he looked down at Caroline. Her skin was still clammy and cold. She was also still profusely sweating. "Come on, you'll be alright."

Klaus placed her down in the shade by a waterfall in case she woke up now. You were supposed to remove any heavy or tight clothing on the victim, but all she was wearing was tight clothing. He knew Caroline was wearing lacy pink lingerie because she always put it beside her bathing places, but if she woke up and saw herself stripped down, it would not end well.

Klaus looked at her again and saw the clamminess of her skin. He decided to just unbutton the top. It should take about three minutes to wake up after fainting right? Klaus asked himself as he slowly undid the buttons of her tight camouflage bodysuit. Each button revealed more and more of her chest and he decided after five, it was enough.

Her breathing was shallow and uneven which made him worry. That was one of the signs for heat stroke. Klaus elevated her legs by placing them on his arm. It has been at least seven, perhaps eight. Why won't she wake up?

Klaus placed his hand on her cold cheek. I exhausted you. I made you walk in severe heat without even bothering to listen to your complaints about your cramps. It was one of the symptoms as well. I harmed you again. First, the whole birthday situation. That was just a disaster waiting to happen, Tyler was a ticking time bomb, but I set him off early. Now I gave you heat exhaustion because I didn't acknowledge your struggles. Please wake up. I don't want your suffering to be another burden for me to carry around. I was also starting to enjoy your company, Caroline.

The sound of a twig snapping broke Klaus's thoughts and put him on alert. Animals were supposed to be hiding from the sun and in as much shade as possible. They're not stupid enough to come out into the open.

Someone was here.

His first intent was to run and break someone's spine, but then Caroline shifted in his arms. He couldn't leave her when there could be other potential threats. He promised her he would keep her safe. So he went with his second option. Klaus scooped Caroline up and scurried towards the deep vegetation close to a cliff.

When they were well hidden, Klaus could hear footsteps. One step after another. Two feet. Definitely not an animal. They got louder and louder. They were getting closer and closer. He put Caroline down behind a bush carefully. He made sure her feet were elevated a bit before letting her go. "Don't fret Caroline, I'll be back." Klaus whispered before he got on his feet.

"Who wants to die today?" Klaus announced as he emerged from his hiding. Whoever this coward was, needed to face him.

There was no one in front of him, where the footsteps were coming from. Klaus smiled as he heard something behind him. Only one person on Earth was better at this trick than him. For the first time in the longest time, relief flooded his veins. The organization received his message, they had just sent the wrong person.

Klaus turned around slowly and shook his head at the dark haired man. Like always, he had on a lazy smile and sarcasm filled his icy blue eyes. "Hello, Damon Salvatore. What brings you to this part of the woods?"

"I got a message of desperation from my favourite person. Nice to see you too, Klaus."

"For once, I'm not completely infuriated to see you. How did you find me? My tracker's destroyed." Klaus said as he gave Damon a one armed hug.

"With a little help from judgy the snappy tracker, she located you and your potential moves down."

"Bonnie Bennett sure is a dangerous one." It was true, that Bennett deserved to be feared. She was one of the best. "How did you get here?"

"One of your favourites, some guards and I drove down here in a jeep. He'll make his grand entrance soon. The real question is how did you get here?"

"Tyler Lockwood. We've been playing wolf and rabbit for a while now. He keeps on slipping away. Moving on from that, I have a souvenir as well, we'll have to bring it along, I hope you have extra space. And thanks for coming, but I requested Stefan."

"Na, ah." Damon corrected, "you asked for the better of the Salvatore brothers. That's why I'm here. Obviously."

"Stefan over his obnoxiously fun brother any day."

"Too bad. Stefan's helping Alaric train our new recruits."

It had slipped Klaus's mind. "Oh bloody hell..."

Damon gasped, widening his pale blue eyes and letting his jaw drop sarcastically. "Has my dagger happy brother from another mother, forgotten something for the first time?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. It was a nuisance when he called him that. Just because he's stabbed Finn with a dagger out of disappointment more than once, doesn't mean he deserved to be called that. "I had a new apprentice coming in with the others. I should be training them, not stuck out here." Klaus shrugged, "doesn't matter. Elijah probably has them covered."

"No, he doesn't, unfortunately. Your unlucky trainee, went missing some time ago. Like five days. It's messed up because she's one of my best friends. She's also friends with my girlfriend, that means I'm just depressed all day."

"How much should I bet she was running away from you?"

"You know me, it's all or nothing, bad guy." Damon joked, "but, if I guessed, she was running away with Tyler Lockwood. I don't know why, we all act like friends back in Mystic Falls, but it seems most logical explanation. You were tracking Tyler right? She's his girlfriend. About," he positioned his flattened hand to his temple, "yea high. Curly blonde, blue eyes, super hot and overdramatic."

Klaus slowly started to piece it together. Her Damon hated Tyler, his Damon hated Tyler as well. Her Bonnie and his Bonnie were probably also the same. She matched the description and the best proof was when Damon told him her name was Caroline Forbes.

"Damon?!" Klaus turned around to see her standing up in disbelief. Well, there was even better proof.

"Hey Blondie, long time no see."

"Damon!" Caroline cried as she ran towards him smiling. "I could hug you right now!"

"Already on it." Damon said as he embraced her.

She hugged him back and sighed into his shoulder. Caroline couldn't be more confused right now, but seeing something from home made her feel way better. "How are you here? What happened? Why don't I-"

Oh yeah, I passed out. She turned to Klaus who had a relieved expression on his face. "Klaus, what happened to me?"

"Caroline, you're awake." He whispered so quietly, she could barely hear it. His face looked as if he was anxious about something before and could finally be at peace now. "You got heat exhaustion. You were out for maybe twenty minutes," he stated louder. "It's very abnormal, but you look better now. I think you'll be fine."

"Thank you, for looking out for me." She turned back to Damon, "why are you here?"

"I got big bad serial killer's message after I saved Bonnie from this remote island two hundred miles off of Nova Scotia because she wanted to find this poison called the cure that does whacky shit to your brain. Klaus originally called for Stefan, but Stefan and Alaric are busy training Elena and Donovan. So I had to come out of my way to save him."

Caroline was dumbfounded. She would laugh at Damon if he sounded like he was joking.

He didn't.

Klaus wasn't smiling either. "What? I don't get it. You know each other?"

"What he means is, we're both in the organization. With your friend Bonnie and from what I hear now, Elena too."

"Wait, so you're telling me that everyone in our friend group, is in a top secret organization and I don't know shit about it?! You guys didn't tell me this?!"

"Calm your tits Care bear," Damon pointed down to her exposed chest. Caroline immediately covered herself and when she checked, Klaus' eyes were turned somewhere else.

That dickhead...

"We were going to tell you the same day we told Jeremy, Matt and Elena. Bonnie, Alaric, Stefan and I were just recruited a little early. Then you and Tyler disappeared into thin air. Everyone's worried about you two, except me. I was worried about blondie, but I've always hated that Lockwood kid."

"I still don't get it. Why are we being recruited by assassins? Why are we accepting? When did you, Stefan, Alaric and Bonnie join?"

"I'll go in detail later. Why are you with Klaus in the middle of nowhere and not Tyler? Klaus you said you had a souvenir, not a sex slave that you stole from Tyler."

"I'm not his slave and I'm not sleeping with him!"

Damon looked at her bra, "then how did that happen?"

Caroline quickly buttoned up her suit. "I have no idea."

"Pure intentions only, I swear it." Klaus smiled.

"I'm here because Klaus blew up my tour jeep trying to kill Tyler, but he missed."

"You never miss." Damon looked at Klaus who rolled his eyes, "I'm guessing the all powerful legend was trying to save you. He is never the one to resist a pretty face or good ass."

Klaus smirked, "and you're any better? Didn't you and Stefan both chase after Katherine before Elena?" Caroline glared at them for interrupting. Klaus knew Katherine too? She wasn't even in Virginia. Right? They were going through explanations too fast and it was annoying and confusing. "Sorry, continue love."

"Tyler ran off without me and Klaus decided to tag along when I wanted to look for him. We haven't found him, not yet. After five days, I finally collapsed under the heat. I don't know anything else up this point."

"I just took you here for some shade and water. You were supposed to wake up after three minutes, you were out for nine times that. I'm grateful, I thought I had put you in a coma."

Caroline nodded. Klaus saved her again, from her weak self. It was so embarrassing. I bet he sees me as a weakling. I couldn't hold out in the heat, a big ball of gas got the better of me.

"I thought someone that could possibly be a threat to you was coming. So I hid you back there. Turns out it was only Damon."

He always told Caroline he would protect her. Probably because he pitied her or for no reason at all. "Klaus-"

Klaus abruptly pulled her aside causing her to tumble and roll. The impact of her fall was reduced because of the way he laid her down gently. Well, not gently, gentler than it would be to just fall. Klaus hovered over her, his face was an inch away from hers. Caroline's breath was short and quick just like before, but she calmed down when Klaus pulled her up into a crouch. His arm went around her shoulders as if he was protecting her, but Caroline didn't see anything. She looked over at Damon who was ten feet away from them with an annoyed expression.

"What's going o-" Her words were cut off by a jeep zooming in between Caroline and Klaus and Damon.

Out of instinct, Caroline turned into Klaus's chest and whimpered. His arms wrapped around her tightly. She heard his steady heart beats, he wasn't afraid, so she had nothing to worry about. "Don't be scared love. No one can make an entrance like he can."

"Who-"

"It's time you start meeting my delusional family members. The most lunatic one first." Klaus pulled her up and walked towards the jeep that had screeched to a stop. His hand was over hers and his grip was gentle and reassuring.

A handsome brunette stood up from the driver's seat of the jeep with a mischievous smile on his face. "Hello sexy blonde woman, Salvatore, brother."

Brother?

"Kol, we have a lot to catch up on."


	5. Chapter 5

Damon hopped into the car and reached out his hand to pull Caroline up. She got in the car and Klaus came in after her.

Two guards with big guns sat behind her in the trunk and she tensed. They were dressed in all black with what looked like motorcycle helmets that shielded their faces. The guards didn't move and it seemed like they were looking straight through her. Kind of scary, not going to lie.

The open roof jeep was small. She was squished in the middle of Damon and Klaus.

Kol turned and faced them to greet his brother. "Niklaus! This is where you've been? In Brazil, you lucky bastard?! Mother and Bekah have been worried shitless and you've been whoring around with foreigners in South America!"

"Not whoring around. I've been on a mission, looking for Tyler and unfortunately, it's been unsuccessful." Klaus rolled his eyes.

"Then who's the girl?"

"Kol, meet my sexy blonde frenemy, Caroline," Damon announced.

"Caroline, huh? That's a pretty name for a pretty lady. I'm Kol if you haven't caught on. The psychotic maniac of the family and Niklaus's brother. Would you like to go out for a drink once we've gotten back to camp?" Kol's expression was mischievous and playful.

Though he was handsome and obviously had a sense of humour, he definitely was not her type. Too cocky with no subtlety.

"I'm taken thanks," she answered sharply. Caroline was not in the mood to be flirted with by the person who nearly ran her over.

Kol turned back around and shrugged while he started the jeep. After a few seconds, the jeep was already speeding off.

They were going fast, really fast. They ran into rock like speed bumps at a hundred kilometres an hour, they grazed past trees at sharp turns and the bark screeched against the metal. Klaus said reckless, but how reckless was reckless?

Caroline felt Klaus tighten his grip on her hand for silent reassurance. His touch had grown so unnoticeable, she forgot they were even holding hands. I wonder if this is considered cheating? No, I'm overthinking. Klaus is just, touchy, overprotective of my hot body and really clingy.

"A feisty one, aren't you? I'm too late, right? So you and Nik have already tied the knot?" Caroline guessed he noticed their hands and she quickly pulled hers away.

Guilt seeped into her. Stop Caroline, you're not doing anything wrong.

"And only in a week? Nik must be a god in the sex department."

Caroline felt her ears getting hot and she forced her embarrassment away. "I'm not with Klaus, I'm with Tyler Lockwood. The Tyler that Klaus loves so dearly and we possibly left somewhere in there. I'm guessing you know him because everyone seems to know everyone I know."

"You need not worry about Tyler, sweetheart. I've already told Jeremy to call in some patrols for this area and the rest of Brazil. Bonnie Bennett and some of her subordinates might be working on hacking through some flight information as well. We'll find him for you both, brother and little Caroline."

Caroline's body was flooded with relief. They were looking for him, she'd see him again. She could hug Tyler and kiss Tyler and hold Tyler's hand again. Well, unless they'd kill him on the spot. "What are you going to do with him once you find him?"

"That's up to me, Tyler's my responsibility." Klaus smiled, "and I will slaughter him for all his wrongs."

"Why do you all hate Tyler so much?" Caroline scoffed, this was so annoying. They treated him as if he was one of them.

"He took something very special from me." Klaus said simply.

"He's annoying," Damon put in with a sing-song tone.

"Tyler betrayed the organization. He betrayed me-"

"-and he's a dick." Damon chimed in.

"What happened between Klaus and Tyler, Damon?" Caroline asked Damon in a whisper, "you hate everyone so I understand your reasoning. What did Tyler do that was so bad, Klaus wants to kill him with all his heart?"

"Damon will tell you no such thing if he wants to keep his tongue." Klaus stared darkly at her. His eyes had the same look as the first time he got angry in the rainforest.

Spine chilling.

Damon's hands went flying up, "this is between you and the big bad wolf, Goldielocks. I usually don't let people threaten me, but this, is none of my business. I wouldn't want to get in the way of a lovers quarrel, now would I?"

"You guys are so rude. You say all this bullshit about Tyler, but every time I ask, you shut me down! Can someone tell me what Tyler did?"

"I haven't said anything sweetheart." Kol looked back at them with the rear view mirror.

"How much should I bet you were thinking it?" Caroline retorted.

"Jeremy is quite fond of Tyler, I happen to think Jeremy is loads of fun. We were mates when he stayed in Denver for a while and I whacked his head with a baseball bat. Too hilarious," Kol laughed. "And those video games, he calls it, other than me, best creation ever."

That did not have anything to do with Tyler, but at least Kol wasn't overflowing with unexplained hate. Caroline was starting to grow fond of him, he wasn't acting like Klaus. "Of course you know Jeremy as well. Everyone knows everyone, except me."

"If it helps," Klaus started, "I have no idea who they are either. I think they're new trainees or something." He smiled at her and put his hand on hers.

"It doesn't," Caroline snapped while pulling her hand away from his. "I'm mad at you, Klaus. You won't tell me anything important." Caroline scoffed and looked at her brown and green shoes that were once white, "and I thought we were past this stage. I thought we could trust each other, but obviously, we can't."

"That's not it-"

"I don't care what you think it is, this is totally unfair."

Caroline heard guns raise behind her. God, did she make them mad? "Hey, that's our boss you're talking to. So shut your damn trap before we shut it for you. Permanently."

They did not. They were mad because she raised her voice at Klaus. Everyone from 'the organization' was completely nuts. "Are you threatening me?" Caroline hissed, and she heard Damon and Kol chuckle.

"What the fuck does it look like?" The bodyguards or whatever were angry at her hostility. They thought she was a threat to Klaus. Which was stupid and paranoid and really scary because she could not fend for herself against huge machine guns, but Caroline wouldn't show it. She had too much pride to.

"Excuse-"

Klaus turned to glare at them, "if anyone of you hurt her, I'll murder the both of you. This includes scaring her and warning her. So if you shoot one of those guns with any intent to frighten her into place, speak to her with that tone again, or lay a finger on this woman, you'll both wish you had died in your mother's womb."

Caroline closed her mouth when Klaus finished his statement. The two burly men were now silent. She shot them a dirty look before turning back around. If Klaus wasn't an egoistic dickhead who believes she doesn't deserve to know anything, Caroline would think the gesture was kind of nice. Apart from how annoying it was. Did he think it was his responsibility to look out for her? Ugh, what a dick.

"Are you okay love?" Klaus asked quietly with hints of amusement ghosting his lips.

"I'm not your love and I'm fine, thanks." Caroline whispered back in frustration. Klaus had stood up for her again. "I could've handled that by myself, Klaus."

Her frustration wasn't all his fault. It wasn't his fault at all, but Caroline was not about to provoke them. Dumb, big, muscly guys were making her look bad. They should take off their motorcycle helmets so she could at least glare at their real faces.

After she got over her rage, she remembered an important question. Caroline cleared her throat, "so Kol, can I know where the hell we're going?"

"Yes, of course sweetheart," Kol began with a laugh. "We're heading to the private jet, then we'll fly back to the other America, and eventually to dear old headquarters."

"Headquarters?"

"Yes, we're going to TVD."

Klaus boarded the jet last. He double checked to make sure no one was behind him or if anyone was missing. Everyone was accounted for.

After he shared the information, the pilot of the jet thanked him and he stepped out of the cockpit. It was nice to be hidden from the hot Brazilian weather and in an air conditioned space.

Now it was time for him to sit. The jet wasn't too big, so he didn't have much of a choice.

There was Kol, he was in the middle-ish area of the jet. His earbuds were in and an ear to ear grin was plastered on his dumb face. He said the name Jeremy a couple times so Klaus guessed he was on that video call with his 'mate'. Sitting by him would lead to him being discluded and irritated. Kol was out of the race.

Next up, was Damon who sat in the front. His light blue eyes were closed and his head was resting on the window. Klaus couldn't blame him for being tired. Damon went on two rescue missions in a matter of a few days. Though he wouldn't say it to his face, Klaus thought Damon was an exemplary assassin and addition to the organization. However, that didn't stop Damon from being a pain in the ass. He wouldn't want to sit with him either way. Eliminated.

Bodyguards? No. Absolutely not.

Actually, he had some matters to discuss with them. Klaus was tired of being nice. He made his way to their seats and sat by them. "Hello gentleman."

"Mr. Mikaelson." The two said in unison while standing up.

"No, no sit." Klaus had no idea what their names were. He wasn't one to care for small talk, so it never came up. Klaus couldn't even see them. "You see, to get to the point, I did not appreciate the way you treated Caroline."

"Sorry sir, we just wanted that whore to leave you alone. If you want, we'll be happy to take her off you hands." One of them snickered.

Klaus smiled and put his hands behind his back. "How would you guys like to play a game, hmm?"

"Anything."

"Follow me you two." Klaus took them to the very back of the jet, into the bathroom. He opened a white cabinet above the mirror and pulled out a parachute.

"What are you doing, sir?"

"Here's the game," Klaus moved past them and pulled on a latch that opened a hole through the plane. "When we're up in the air, well in the air, both of you will jump out. Only one of you gets the parachute. I'm being nice and won't pick with eenie meenie miney moe or maybe I'm not. You've made me exceptionally angry. Anyways, whoever makes it out alive, meet me at midnight. I'll have a reward." Klaus put the parachute on the counter, "that is all."

Klaus left the room. Bodyguards were no longer in the running.

That left Caroline. Caroline was mad at him for no reason at all. He didn't want to tell her about what happened with Tyler for her own good. Yes, she'd find out soon enough, but that wasn't supposed to concern her now. He didn't want this silly fight to get the best of their friendship because they weren't in the Amazon anymore.

Were they friends? She says she hates him, but the way she looks at him counters that. He felt like Caroline thought of him differently than most. Like he was a normal person who she wouldn't mind spending time with. Not a forced companion she's stuck with because he almost killed her and wanted to kill her lover.

Klaus went to the back couch where Caroline was seated. He sat down next to her.

Caroline watched him as he took the spot beside her and she let her head fall on the wall behind her. "What do you want, Klaus? There are plenty of other places to sit."

"I know, just making sure you were comfortable," he lied.

"Yeah, because I could be uncomfortable on a private jet."

"I also wanted to make sure you do not remain infuriated with me."

"If how I felt mattered so much, why didn't you think about it when you were deciding what secrets to keep from me? You told me that the only secret you were keeping was about the organization, TVD, or whatever. You told me it was for my own safety because you didn't know what they would do to me." Caroline crossed her arms. "When we found out I'm supposed to be a member of TVD, I thought that was the end of secrets between us. I thought we'd be fine."

Klaus was confused. What did she mean we? He thought once they were out of the rainforest, their complicated relationship was over. "We?"

Caroline looked embarrassed and her cheeks were suddenly pink. It was a much better sight than her ghastly pale ones back in the Amazon. "Our friendship. I thought our friendship would be a little more normal."

When Klaus didn't answer right away, she started to fret. "I mean unless you don't want to be friends or if we never were. I just thought because we spent a whole bunch of time together, we might be considered friends." Caroline began to ramble and he rolled his eyes. Self confidence was not her strong suit. "I understand why it's kinda stupid to think that, I mean it was very forced. I'm also your worst enemy's girlfriend which makes this very unappealing-"

"Caroline," he stopped her. "We are friends, if that's what you're worried about. Beware, I've never had a good friendship, so I couldn't know less about it. You'll have to teach me all there is to know." Klaus chuckled before he looked up from his folded hands.

Caroline's eyes softened at his words and a smile of genuine happiness appeared on her lips. It was as pure as a newborn. He wanted it to stay like that forever, but all of the good moments lasted for only seconds. "And know that, I'd never give this up because of your relationship with Tyler Lockwood."

Like that, Caroline's smile faded, "I miss him. So much. I don't want to, but I just can't stop thinking about him. What if I never see him again? What if I never see his smile or hear his dumb laugh ever again?"

Once again, Caroline had slipped into her mourning phase and it was once again, his fault. He should've kept quiet after he told her about his responsibility over Lockwood.

If he was actually going to kill Tyler on the spot like he told himself and everyone else, Klaus would not feel any regret. In reality, he planned on locking Tyler up and extracting information from him. More specifically, the location of where he had hid something precious to the Mikaelsons.

The problem was, if Caroline was going to be working under him, it would be extremely difficult to keep it a secret like he wanted to. At the same time, this might change her perspective on Tyler.

Klaus didn't care much for that, but that meant Caroline could be depressed every moment of every day. It would change her work performance and if she didn't live up to expectations, TVD would deal with her. They wouldn't be able to kick her out, so they'd fry her brain or kill her. That would be troublesome for him because he's supposed to be training Caroline into a stone cold warrior.

Ultimately, she'd learn the truth either way. Klaus decided it was better for her to find out from him, than her finding out on her own.

The pilot announced their taking off through the intercom and he felt them starting to move.

A light tapping sound caused him to turn his head. Caroline slender fingers were drumming on the pale leather seat. Not drumming. Rhythmically tapping. He easily recognized it was morse code.

"You're tapping in morse code," Klaus pointed out.

"Huh?" Caroline looked puzzled until it sank in a second later. "Oh yeah, I am."

"Why?"

"It's something my mom taught me."

"Really? What for?"

"Well, my mom and Tyler's mom were really close. They did lots of fun stuff together. She was the mayor and my mom was and is the sheriff. One of the many things they did together was travelling. Whenever they were taking off on a plane or something, they'd tap each other's name in morse code. Even though my mom and Tyler's mom stopped being friends, Tyler and I decided to take on the tradition after his mom passed."

Carol Lockwood was Tyler's mother. What a woman with an untimely demise. If her son would have swallowed his pride and had spoken up about the location, Carol might still be breathing right now.

Carol was a persistent one. Kicking and thrashing around in the water until Klaus finally drowned her. A tragic ending, especially at a Christmas party, but what's fair is fair.

What's not is inevitable.

"Here, we can try it." Caroline stopped to think about it for a moment before lifting her pointer finger. She slowly began putting down short and long taps for K. Then L and so on and so on.

After her last three short taps, making the letter S, she looked up at him. "There, Klaus. Now it's your turn. You have to spell my name, it's a long one so get ready."

Caroline picked up his own finger and began tapping it. Klaus knew morse code, he learned it as a toddler. He had already figured out how to spell her name in code, but the way Caroline worked away trying to remember all the letter combinations was simply mesmerizing. The heightened feeling of her gentle touch was back.

"Caroline," she whispered as she looked up at him. Her fingers lingered on his for while and she nodded with a smile. It was a sad smile. A smile you give when someone asks you if you're alright after your grandmother dies.

Caroline missed her lover who tortured, degraded and abused her. It was idiotic. This is why Klaus did not ever think to fall in love. Love was blinding and it got in the way of more important things. Your lover would fill your mind, replace all logical thinking and your heart would be your worst enemy.

"How can you miss Lockwood? He's horrible to you."

"I-I don't know, okay? How can I not? I feel like every bone in my body is aching for him. My brain tells me to remember everything he's done to me, but my heart won't let me forget him. I mean he's going to die anyways."

"Sweetheart..."

"I'm sorry for making you listen to all this girl talk about him. I know you hate Tyler, but I feel like, there's no one else to talk to."

"Nonsense, I love girl talk," Klaus smiled.

Caroline laughed a little, "most of the time, I can't think about anything but his whereabouts, but when I'm with you, you take my mind off of him. You're a good listener, most of the time."

"Love, you're going to see Tyler again," he muttered.

"You don't have to give me false hope Klaus. I know you're going to murder him once you lay your eyes on him."

"No, I'm going to capture him and hold him hostage. You and your love will be reunited eventually."

"Why are you capturing him?" Klaus looked at her without an answer. "Oh yeah, not ready to tell me yet," she sighed.

"In all truth, I'm not telling you because I don't want you to get hurt. I don't know the amount of love you feel for Lockwood and if it doesn't exceed this, it'll throw you off game. An assassin who's off their game is useless. The 'big guys' will hurt you or quite frankly, kill you."

"Who are the big guys?"

"Doesn't matter because it's not the time to tell you." Caroline glanced at him before looking back at her shoes. "Love..."

"No I get it. I understand that you're doing this out of the kindness of your heart, in your own way."

Klaus looked outside the window. They were in the clear blue skies and Brazil was underneath them. He wondered if the guards had jumped yet. It would be an approximately eight hour flight, so if they hadn't, they had a long way to go.

Kol was still loudly chatting on the phone and Damon was as silent as ever. His ability to sleep so soundly was enviable. Klaus hadn't gotten a wink of sleep in the past five days because of the torture technique that is Caroline.

She tossed, turned, talked, any and every thing imaginable. Her hands unconsciously played with his hair and roamed his arms while she muttered in her sleep.

Though it was bothersome, Klaus could not bring his entire self to cuss her out. Her actions were cute and expanded his wild imagination. Caroline quiet moans and soft whimpers were like none other. No matter how hard he tried, Klaus couldn't stop himself from wondering how Caroline crying out 'Niklaus' in pure pleasure would sound. The thought of her perfect body pleading for him caused Klaus to smile.

These thoughts humoured him greatly but it was all a fiction. Until Caroline fell for him like every other, he would not force it into a reality. Where's the fun in that?

A head of blonde hair fell on his shoulder. Caroline was fast asleep. He could tell by her soft snoring. It was like if she wasn't talking, she was asleep.

You're a brave little warrior, love. I thought you were going to die on the second day out there. You are one of the few that have proved me wrong.

Klaus fiddled with her golden hair between his fingers. He was getting tired too. Klaus laid his head on hers and closed his eyes. Though her facade was oblivious and naive, her could see the potential in her.

Caroline, you're a natural assassin. You will surpass many of your peers quickly with my help. I will turn you into the model agent within a week. I can and will make you strong enough to stand up to anyone who tries to hurt you.

That's a promise.

With that thought, Klaus fell asleep for the first time in forever.

"...and we're landing. You'll be off the jet shortly."

The loud voice echoed through the jet, making Caroline open her eyes. That was the best sleep she had in ages. Caroline realized she was curled up against Klaus and she wondered why he hadn't woken her. She looked up to find out Klaus's face was not even an inch away. Her eyelashes were even grazing his cheek.

Is he asleep?

She'd never seen him so quiet and calm. In all the time they spent together, she never saw him asleep.

God he's so... Caroline didn't finish her sentence. She was not a dumb shallow girl that was swooning at his handsome features, but he was so...

Caroline reached out to touch him. To her surprise, once her hand made contact with his face, Klaus caught her. His fingers intertwined with hers but his eyes remained shut.

"Were you giving me butterfly kisses love?" Klaus mumbled. He pressed their hands against his stubbled cheek.

"I didn't-" Caroline started, "I wasn't trying to."

"That's sweet. Here, a kiss for a kiss." Klaus opened his eyes as he kissed the back of her hand. "Have we landed? Did I oversleep?"

"No, you didn't. We're landing right now." It took all of Caroline's will to keep her voice steady.

My heart is beating out control. Is my heat exhaustion back? Why the hell is he still holding onto my hand. His hand looks really strong. Wait, why am I focusing on these things? Stop it, Caroline Forbes. Think about something else. Like, I don't know.

Vampires? Vampires.

Fangs.

Teeth.

Mouth.

Lips.

His lips are so soft and gentle on my skin. They were like this when he kissed my shin. Caroline mentally slapped herself, like a creep.

Her heart was still beating at a fairly fast pace. Klaus's eyes gazed deep into hers. His expression was impossible to read. Why is he looking at me like that? Is there something on my face or in my teeth?

"We've landed, brother," Kol called. "You and sweet Caroline should get up here!"

Klaus broke his eye contact and stood up. Caroline felt like she could finally breathe. "Come now, we're here." He helped her up and led her through the jet by hand. He only let go once she took the last step off.

Kol lead them to a timber grey BMW. That wasn't going to fit them all, especially with two burly men.

Where were those dicks anyway? Caroline was positive she was the last one out of the jet. "Klaus where are-"

"I dealt with them," was all he said.

"Did you-"

"Not exactly." Klaus opened the car door for her. A pang of annoyance struck her. He had to stop interrupting her.

Caroline hesitantly got in. What had he done to them? She sat in the middle seat and Klaus came in on her right. Kol was on her left with a smirk on. Damon was in shotgun beside a man dressed in black.

They drove in silence for a minute. Klaus mentioned it was about a five minute drive. They were almost there.

Kol broke the silence. "Damon, Niklaus, what are we going to do to the lovely lady? She knows too much, are we going for a neck snap or a bullet to the head?" Kol caressed her cheek.

The way he named two ways to kill her with ease and a smile, he was as bad as his brother. Were all Mikaelsons' this scary? That was also kind of annoying, I mean, she was starting to like Kol and he decided to talk to her like that. Seriously?

Klaus put his hand around Caroline's waist and pulled her closer to him. He had strong arms too. "We're not going to kill her Kol." Klaus growled.

"Would you rather let mother and Silas do it? They're either going to put her in excruciating pain and kill all her brain cells, or put her in excruciating pain and kill her." Kol tenderly held her chin and examined her. His eyes were deep brown unlike Klaus's. "To be nice, let's make it quick and break her neck."

Klaus grabbed Kol's hand, "stop it."

"Or what, big bad brother? You'll kill me? Mother would be furious. Plus, the guilt and shame of killing the good looking one will damn your soul to hell." His ear to ear grin was either playful or sinister. Caroline couldn't tell.

An amused smile tugged at Klaus's lips, "it's definitely worth a shot considering my fate has been sealed since my first kill."

"Though I hate to be the one to stop a good ol' fight between brothers," Damon sighed and muttered I don't want to be Elena under his breath making her giggle. No one else did, so she guessed they didn't get it. Klaus shot a look at Damon, but turned back to Kol too quickly for her to see his expression. "We're not going to kill her. Caroline's a potential, just like Jeremy. The only difference is that she was gone on the day of recruitment."

"And she's not brunette, male or incredibly fun," Kol let go of her chin and Klaus loosened his grasp on Kol's wrist. "Sorry Caroline," he sounded genuine so she dropped it. "Now that I know we're on the same team, let's go out."

"Definitely." Kol was on a whole different level of bipolar. Hell yeah it was freaky, but it was also pretty damn hilarious. "Don't tell Tyler, he'll freak."

Kol's eyes twinkled in eagerness. "A scandal, how exciting."

"We'll have to hide from the public," Caroline joked. "We wouldn't want our careers to be ruined, now would we?"

"However will we go on dates, then?"

"Disguises of course. Wigs, hats, dark glasses, makeup, fake noses!"

The car came to a stop and Damon opened his car door. "We're here lovebirds."

Kol took her hand and helped her out of the car. "Yes, disguises indeed, darling."

"What will we do when people find out? When Tyler finds out? What if he hurts you? I couldn't bear seeing you in pain."

"Nothing will matter after our sinful deeds are snuffed out." He lifted Caroling up bridal style and she let out a surprised squeak. Kol could be an actor if he didn't kill people for a living. She should know, being a drama major at Whitmore. "I'd want the world to know how much I love you sweet Caroline!"

"Oh, Kol!" She sighed and batted her eyelashes.

A vibration in Kol's jacket pocket broke their character. He checked his phone and his face lit up. "Jeremy!" Kol put her down, "sorry love, I got to see my mate. Maybe some other time. And I take it back about you not being incredibly fun!" He broke out into a sprint after the driver unlocked a tall, black iron gate.

In the middle of the gate, was an arch with swirl designs on top. Behind it were four huge buildings. The two on the left and right were shaped like huge cubes but the middle one was more of a mansion shape. The moon was big and round behind the three front buildings and it highlighted the fourth. It was at least 30 stories.

"You stare quite a bit, love. Welcome to the place I call my home."

Caroline looked around, it was only her and Klaus. She didn't even notice that Damon had already gone inside. "You live here?"

"Most of our members do," Klaus looked away from the full yellowish moon. "You will too. It's about eleven pm now, no one is out training. Your friends are probably in their rooms-"

"Can I see them?" Caroline missed her friends more than anything, she needed to see them.

"Shall we?" Klaus walked through the gates on the cobblestone pathway.

Caroline followed him closely. His energy was different, he no longer had the smile hiding behind the blank expression. He was unreadable. Probably just exhausted. Klaus walked towards the tall cubish building on the left.

"This is where Bennett lives. She lives by herself in one of the most luxurious rooms. She got the penthouse. Damon might be staying with her tonight. I doubt he's driving back to the boarding house."

"No way, you're saying Bonnie lives in a penthouse and she's never invited me?"

"It's not like she's living in a top secret location or something. Understand you're not the centre of attention all the time, will you?" Klaus pressed his hand against the wall. The wall scanned his hand and a glass door outlined with gold appeared. "We call it a cloaking spell, it activates after curfew." Klaus said when he noticed how stunned she was, "advanced technology."

It wasn't only the technology that stunned her. Caroline just made a joke and Klaus shot her down for it. Caroline entered the building and he followed. He pressed a button that was probably buzzing him in.

"Yes?" A way too familiar voice answered.

Caroline was about to scream but Klaus put a finger to his lip. "Open up love. I've got a surprise for you."

"Fine. Get up here," Bonnie replied.

Caroline and Klaus got in the elevator after Bonnie let them in. There was something wrong with him. Why was he so distant? Why wasn't he acting cocky? Not like she was complaining, but still. Was he sick? "Klaus are you feeling okay?"

"What do you mean, sweetheart?" Klaus pressed a button, "I feel like I do always."

"But you seem like-"

"Stop over investigating into things, you've got a friend to surprise." The doors of the elevator closed.

"Are you mad at me or something?"

"No. You have better things to think about. Go to your friend. Bonnie might be able to hack the system and get your other friend, Elena out of her house. You can be reunited with your mates." The elevator dinged and the doors opened.

Caroline hesitantly stepped out. "Klaus you can talk to me-"

"At seven am tomorrow, meet me behind this building. I'll show you the ropes."

And with that, the gold elevator doors closed, separating the inseparable team for the first time in forever.


	6. Chapter 6

"Caroline wake up, you're gonna be late." Elena laughed as she shook Caroline's shoulders.

Caroline groaned, her head was pounding. It took her some time before she remembered the events leading up to this. Stupid hangovers. "What do you want Elena?"

"Not her, Klaus," Bonnie corrected.

Oh yeah. She needed a tour of the place. Caroline groggily sat up. Elena, Stefan and Matt snuck in last night. Damon was already with Bonnie so their whole friend group was reunited. Alaric was with Meredith last night, so Elena stole a bottle or two of bourbon and they all drank in honour of her return and ate tons of comfort food. It was heartwarming to see her friends again, but the excruciating headache was not a good side effect.

Stefan, Damon and Matt were already gone, it was only the three of them now. How did they all wake up so early? It was like, two am. "Where did everyone go?"

"They left really early, it's kind of against the rules to stay overnight at someone else's room, especially if it's a party or you're with a guy that you're not 'with'." Bonnie rolled her eyes, "no one really cares though. As long as word doesn't get to Silas or Esther, we're fine."

Bonnie rummaged through a cabinet and threw her a bottle of aspirin and she thanked her when she caught it. Caroline got on her feet and walked towards the sink. "It's six forty five and you mentioned your meetup was at seven. You don't want to be late, now do you?"

"You hate being late and you wouldn't want to miss your get together with Klaus the strange body part kisser," Elena giggled.

Caroline threw a nearby pillow at her and she dodged. "How drunk was I?"

"Really drunk," she stated. "You're in love with his gentle lips and his big ego."

"I am not!" Caroline growled as she grabbed a glass and poured herself some water. The aspirin went down easily with water and she felt her forehead. Not a good day to be hungover.

_Seriously drunk self? Next time you take over my body, shut the hell up._

"How much did I tell you guys?"

"Well you told us about your whole jungle adventure. Like all of it. Every single detail, every single emotion you felt. Let me tell you, Damon has a lot more teases up his sleeve now than ever."

Caroline couldn't help but feel a little jealous. Elena and Damon's love was so strong and passionate. Damon cared about her above anything else, accept maybe Stefan. He wouldn't let anyone hurt her. Elena's face lit up when their eyes met. They would sacrifice themselves for each other if it came to that. Their love was real, it kind of put her and Tyler's relationship to shame.

"You told us about Tyler too."

She gulped down her fear, "what about Tyler?" Caroline was scared that they found out he had raped her. All her friends except maybe Matt would conspire to kill him with Klaus. Five bloodthirsty maniacs were way more efficient than one.

"That he was a total asshole to you and he threw a glass at you in public! And that he was going to propose to you, but ended up not because he's a brain dead son of a bitch. You also told us about how he left you in that jeep after Klaus crashed it. Tyler is going to get it when I see him again," Bonnie growled.

Caroline sighed in relief and she laid back on the couch. She was extremely grateful that her drunk self did not tell them everything. The mention of the proposal brought her mood down even lower. She could've been getting married to Tyler.

"Get in the shower right now Caroline Forbes, I put out some clothes for you." Bonnie pulled her up and pushed her towards the bathroom. "It's already six fifty."

Caroline undressed and got into the shower. Hot water burned through her skin and she loved it. It had been so long since she had an actual shower, not a dip in a pool. She wondered if Klaus felt like this. Maybe he was way less dramatic about it. Boys and their disinterest in hygiene. Caroline washed herself with a big pink loofah. Bonnie's vanilla bean and coconut body wash filled her nose. Finally, she felt clean.

After her quick shower, Caroline got dressed in a flowy white tank top that had a thin layer of lace on top and some high waisted jeans. Bonnie reminded her about the time and she was already late. Caroline gave Elena and Bonnie a tight hug before running out the door.

The sound of her fist banging on the elevator button was loud enough to wake up everyone in the building. She frantically pressed the main floor button knowing she was already late. Once she finally got outside, Caroline quickly made her way towards the back of the building. Sure enough, Klaus was waiting there.

"I'm really sorry I'm late, I just-"

Klaus walked over to her with a smile. "Good morning sweetheart. How was your late night rager?"

Shit, he found out. He's going to tell his mom and they were going to get in trouble. "It was just Elena and Bonnie," she lied.

"Remember, rule number one."

"We're not in Brazil, Klaus. I can lie all I want, but in this situation, I'm not. Lying that is." Caroline mentally slapped herself, she was usually a good liar. Why did he make her so tongue tied.

"Then why did I discover Damon, Stefan and another blue eyed boy sneaking out of the building at the same time?"

"Seriously? Were you stalking us? I just wanted to see my friends okay?" Caroline shot back.

"What were all six of you doing last night?"

"We were all in one big, disgusting, sweaty orgy Klaus." Caroline rolled her eyes and he raised his eyebrows. "I'm kidding!"

Klaus began to walk and Caroline followed. "There's a lot for you to learn Caroline, so pay attention."

"Yes, your majesty," she bowed.

Klaus smiled at her tease, "first we'll visit the training centres, they're right around here. Training officially opens at nine am, but some trainers or people with privileges could be there early. Other than that, it'll be on the empty side. With less people there to watch, there are way more possibilities."

Caroline scoffed, it was like he couldn't help himself. "Stop hitting on me."

"Hitting on you?" Klaus acted baffled, "you're the stunning one. I'm just an innocent victim to the treacherous effects of your beauty."

Caroline crossed her arms in annoyance and forced her smile down. He was always out to embarrass her or make her laugh. There was no in between. As she shook her head, Caroline caught a glimpse of the sky. It was pale blue, but the yellow semi circle creeping up from the ground, illuminated the sky with orange and salmon pink.

Sunrises were really beautiful, but she could almost never see them. Caroline was always busy with who knows what and didn't bother to get up at this time. Tyler also hated getting up early and Caroline didn't want to accidentally wake him up, because she wanted to see a sunrise. Unfortunate, but what could she do?

"Caroline?" Klaus must've caught her staring the the sky. "I guess we'll have to postpone the tour then. Come with me." Klaus started to walk in a completely different direction.

She suspiciously followed, where was he taking her?

After a long while of walking to an unknown destination, Caroline realized they were in a open field. The tall grass brushed past her skin as she walked and occasionally, she'd find a wildflower or two. In the middle of the big isolated field, was a hill. A tall hill, she could've sworn it was a mountain. Klaus started to trudge up so she figured she needed to do the same.

The last few steps to the top were by far the worst. Her muscles were going to cramp soon and her bones would ache.

_How did Klaus do this without letting out a single short breath, sigh of relief or any signs of weakness? That seems impossible, but here he is, doing it right in front of my eyes. This is probably a part of his assassin training. Am I going to do this to train too? Oh God no. If I do, being forced to be a killer is already a drag._

Caroline just wanted to get over with the showing the ropes tour as soon as possible. The faster this was done with, the faster she could go back to Elena and Bonnie and back in bed. Sleep was her top priority at the moment, Klaus was unnecessarily stretching out the experience.

"Klaus, why did you bring me he-" As Caroline whipped around to talk to Klaus, her eyes caught the sunrise before she could finish the sentence. It was-

"Gorgeous, right? I thought you should take a clearer look after I caught you mooning over it earlier. And I guess this is a semi apology for being so cold towards you yesterday."

Klaus apologizing? Impossible.

"It's jaw dropping, I can't remember seeing a sunrise like this since the dinosaur ages."

The last time she did, it was with her mom and dad when she was a kid. The day before he left without a word. She'll always remember it as the day before her dad left and never came back, not the day her family was finally happy and in the making of a heartwarming memory. It could also be labeled as the day her parents made it look like everything was okay.

"That's something you have in common," Caroline watched Klaus when he finished the statement. His wondrous eyes stayed glued to the horizon, but when they turned to face her, she felt her heart pick up the pace.

_Why am I feeling this way? Whenever__ he looks at me, butterflies fill my body. It's those damn eyes. They gaze at me and I can't tear myself away. Damn you, it's so annoying! My heart is running wild. Why is my heart racing? Am I still scared of him? _

Caroline didn't feel afraid, she wasn't afraid. She just wouldn't accept the alternative option, so she made herself to believe she was.

"It's okay," Caroline said slowly even though her heart wouldn't dare to slow down a couple of beats.

"What is?"

"You being colder last night. Everyone has their days right?" Caroline watched him looking at her. It was like what happened with Kol. He was analyzing her, searching for something. The feeling of discomfort spread throughout her nerve system.

Like lightning, Klaus regained his regular composure. "Thank you sweetheart, but I did not request for your forgiveness. I actually quite like your hot temper."

"Temper? Seriously?" Caroline scoffed and lost all sense of fear when she sat down and he mimicked her. "I don't have a temper."

Klaus chuckled softly and her heart started again. "Remember the big deal you made of a simple blonde joke?"

"I did not! Okay maybe I did, but you're blonde too so you can't even say stuff like that or you're a hypocrite."

"This," Klaus pointed at his hair, "this is not blonde."

"Yes it is! Dirty blonde!"

"That does not count," Klaus put his hand down.

"It does so! Let me see that dirty _blonde _hair of yours, Klaus." Caroline reached out to run her fingers through his subtle curls.

Klaus caught her hand before Caroline could get to her destination. "Never or you'll severely regret it." She rolled her eyes at his lousy half threat. Caroline didn't know why, but she was going to touch his hair no matter what he said.

His grip on her arm was tight and impossible for her to get out of by her strength alone. If she tried to use her other arm to touch it, he'd just grab onto it too, leaving her with nothing to fight against him and a whole lot of embarrassment.

A wild idea popped into her head. _I could seduce him and pretend as if I'm going to kiss him and he'll be caught off guard for a second. Then I _will_ grab that blonde hair of his. I am a natural at this, this will be easy. I will _not_ lose to him again. _

Caroline swiftly swung her arm around his neck and Klaus grabbed her hand. "Nice try sweetheart, but going from behind my back is a tactic that fails every time my enemies attempt to use it on me. Sorry love, but this isn't going to phase me."

Caroline smirked in her head and leaned towards him. For a second, Klaus let go of her hand in surprise.

_Does he really think I'm going to kiss him? Cute. _

Laughs escaped her lips before she could even grab onto his hair, but she did the deed in the Nick of time.

Klaus let out an exasperated sigh and rolled his eyes. "Are you serious?"

"What? You don't like your hair being played with? Don't boys like this?" Caroline asked, fiddling with his hair and holding back her laughter.

"It's degrading and utterly embarrassing. It's a sign of weakness to let someone do something as foolish this to you out of your own request," Klaus groaned.

"Stop being such a blonde baby, you'll be fine." Caroline massaged his head through his curls with a victorious smile on her face. She stifled a laugh when Caroline heard him let out what sounded like a grunt of pleasure. "What the hell was that Klaus? I'm not trying to turn you on."

"Caroline, are you ticklish?"

"Are you trying to change the subject?"

"You sure are in for a treat." Realizing, what he was talking about only took a few milliseconds. Caroline was about to stand up and run downhill, all the way to Elena and Bonnie, but Klaus caught her by her waist.

His fingers started to work at her waist nimbly and then they worked up to her lower ribs as Caroline let out uncontrollable fits of giggles. They moved lightly over the sensitive nerves on her sides that made her tingle.

"Stop it, now!" was the only statement she could get out through her laughs. This was torture for Caroline but apparently hilarious for Klaus. She rolled and squirmed, trying to get away from the feeling of his fingers, but it was no use. Tears were brimming at her eyes from her shrieks of laughter and when he finally stopped, Caroline realized she was straddling Klaus and pinning him to the ground.

Though Klaus wasn't tickling her, he kept his hands on her waist while he softly drummed a rhythm on her back. Mischief and accomplishment filled his blue eyes. She lost once again, why did he keep on besting her?

Right then, Klaus seemed perfect. An innocent guy who pulled sneaky pranks, liked making her laugh and was the best friend you could ask for. He seemed normal, as if he didn't think about how much he wanted to shoot someone in the head once they made him mad. She wished it could be like that for him for more than a couple moments.

Caroline rested her head on his chest and he wrapped one of his arms around her. This was okay. A pretty sunrise over the horizon, a gentle breeze and a friend that never failed to make her laugh. "Klaus, thanks for bringing me here, this was fun."

"Love, I-"

"Are you done Niklaus?" Asked an unfamiliar voice.

Caroline turned around to see a tall man dressed in a suit standing behind the two of them. _How long has he been there? Did he see me laughing like an idiot. Oh, this is mortifying._

"Long time no see. Caroline, it's time you meet my older brother. This is Elijah."

* * *

"Come in, Caroline. We bite, but not you." Klaus opened the door to his house and she hesitantly stepped in. She let her eyes take in the sight of the huge mansion he called home before resting her gaze on Elijah once more.

"Who are you, Caroline and what's your business here with my brother?" Elijah asked while closing the front door.

"I am genuinely hurt. Remember me, Elijah? Am I not the one you're welcoming home?" Klaus grinned and gave his favourite brother a hug. "What have you been up to since I was preoccupied down South?"

"While you were searching for Tyler and getting lost in South America, I was filing in the new recruits. Mother wanted tabs on them as soon as possible. Now back to my first question," Elijah turned to Caroline, "who are you? Why do you look familiar? And I thought we agreed on having no hostages excluding Tyler Lockwood."

Klaus took a step closer to her, "she is not a hostage, brother. Caroline is Tyler Lockwood's lover. Our paths intertwined when I attempted to murder him. Then it turned out, she is a Mystic Falls' folk, Caroline is close with all of our Mystic Falls members. She was supposed to come in with the lot of them, but quite frankly, we were focusing on other matters."

"I must've seen you on a file of some sort." Elijah observed Caroline, his eyes took in everything from the crown of her head to the soles of her feet. Her shoulders tensed as he scanned her. "What is your relationship with Niklaus?"

"Brother, we-"

Elijah put his hand up to silence him," let her speak, brother."

"We're friends, nothing special," Caroline said quietly. Klaus could tell the blonde was intimidated by Elijah and his oh so kind demeanour was helping quite a bit.

"That did not look like 'friends' up on the hill. Niklaus, how do you know she is not in contact with Tyler and using you to extract secrets about TVD? Why would you so easily trust the lover of your sworn enemy? That doesn't sound like you, brother."

Though Caroline cheeks were pink in embarrassment, Klaus could tell she was getting annoyed. "If I was in contact with Tyler, I would be with him, not here. Plus, I don't even have a cell phone, what am I supposed to be using to tell him all your secrets that Klaus doesn't even want to tell me? We need to get on that tour Klaus, I'll be waiting outside."

Caroline slammed the door once she made her way out of the lobby. He could tell that Elijah was more disappointed in his smile than her well mannered self, "yes we'll need to get her one of those asap. You know how females get antsy without their devices."

"As a feminist, I refuse to agree with such a statement." Klaus bit back a laugh and he could've sworn he saw Elijah smile. "Be careful with her, Niklaus. Whatever game you're playing with her, it's time to stop. You're no longer isolated in the Amazon. This girl knows nothing of this organization and her loyalties most likely lie with Tyler Lockwood. He is the enemy. If your intentions are to win her from Tyler Lockwood to prove that you are the alpha male, you will not do so if that puts what mother built in jeopardy."

Klaus smiled at Elijah, "you always know how to read me brother."

"What is the deal with this one, Niklaus? You're usually done with girls after a night. Do you want her as a trophy to spite Lockwood? I suggest you leave her be."

"You need not worry of that brother, I can handle the situation with care. It's not as serious as you're reading it as. Where is Rebekah?"

"Rebekah will be here shortly. Our sister was on a mission, when Kol informed her about you, she has been trying to get back as quickly as possible. Know that, Rebekah will be dangerously angry if she catches you with Caroline. You are aware of how she feels about the women you regularly bring home."

"If you want to speak of dangerous women-" Elijah's phone began to ring in the middle of his statement. When he took it out of his suit pocket, Klaus saw it was a contact named Katherine. "Speak of the devil. I must go now, if you cross paths with Rebekah, send her my way. I'd love to see her and it was good seeing brother. If mother asks for me, tell her to arrange a dinner. I'll be seeing you then." Like that, he was out of the lobby and eventually the house.

Caroline sighed when she saw him again and he felt a hint of pride hit him. "Elijah, is a little scary. And he doesn't trust me. It's not my fault I haven't even been here a day."

"I guess it runs through the family. Now, enough with the dilly dallies, we're going to the training grounds."

"Why does everyone think we have a thing even after I tell them about Tyler?"

Klaus shook his head and smiled. Did she even hear him? "Let's just say, you aren't the first girl I've brought here."

"Ugh, disgusting!" Caroline groaned, "they think I'm one of your whores."

"Believe me, if you were, you'd be wearing a lot less clothing than you are at the moment and you'd already be gone." Klaus's mind once again explored the fantasies for a split second and then smiled back at her. "We're here."

Caroline gasped when turned to see the huge field before them. There was a tremendous track, strength practice activities and many trainers and trainees out.

Despite this, the only thing that seemed to interest her were two boys. A dirty blonde guy with blue eyes and young brunette male running laps.

"Matt! Jeremy!" Caroline shouted as she idiotically ran into the two, nearly knocking them both over. Instead of being angry like regular human beings, they were laughing with each other.

_Why does she feel so deeply for her friends? Caroline hasn't been gone too long. Why don't I get showered with her embrace- _Klaus stopped himself, was he jealous of incompetent fools? It was uncharacteristic and shameful to stoop this low. Why would these horrid thoughts come to his conscious anyway?

Caroline cleared her throat on her way back. "That's Jeremy and Matt, they're my friends from Mystic Falls."

"I couldn't care less about the boys you hang around with, they needed not to be introduced. On an important note, listen. You'll be training here or the building back there every morning. You will be taught to shoot to kill and to fight to kill without any hesitation." Caroline looked down. Klaus could tell she didn't want to do this, but she had to, or his mother would annihilate her. "Caroline, I believe you won't have the misfortune to become a murderous monster like I am. I'll do my best so that you may be assigned to the back catchers' position."

"Back catcher?"

"It's not an assassin, but you help in the backstage by sharing information about targets' whereabouts, covering our blind spots and more. Sometimes, you'll come out with us so you will still need to learn how to protect yourself. If I begin to worry about your well being on a mission, it'll distract me and mess up formation." Klaus took her hands, "it's not only me and you anymore. There are others now and I cannot throw a mission and our teammates into jeopardy because I'm afraid of what might happen to you."

Caroline's breaths were hitched and this put him on edge, had he said something? "Klaus-"

"Nik! Is that you?!" He turned to see Rebekah running towards him in the moronic way Caroline was doing so.

_Oh_ _bloody_ _hell_. _Can we not be interrupted by my ludicrous family for one moment?_

Before he could get any words out, Rebekah hugged him with tears streaming down her face and he embraced her back. "I've been so troubled, I couldn't bear the thought of losing you Nik."

Caroline had leaped away from him and Rebekah watching them awkwardly. "I wasn't going to leave you alone with this lot, you're not going to lose me."

"Are you hurt? Who put you there? I'll gauge their bloody eyes out." Rebekah continued to cry into his shoulder and he patted her back.

"There's no need for that, Tyler Lockwood will be punished by me eventually. Stop crying love, I'm here with you now." Rebekah nodded as Klaus sighed. She was always so dramatic.

When Rebekah finally looked up over his shoulder, she saw Caroline, "who's this?"

"This is Caroline. I spent time with her in the Amazon. Caroline, this is my infamous sister, Rebekah."

Rebekah let go of him slowly and he rolled his eyes. Rebekah was going to try to scare Caroline away like all his one night stands that left a little late. _Bloody_ _hell_.

"So you were slutting around in Brazil."

"So you've been listening to the ramblings of a homicidal maniac." Kol was always twisting the story around and Klaus was not surprised.

"Caroline is it?" Rebekah struted past him and stood in front of her. Could they just finish the task that he had planned for today?

"Caroline Forbes." Caroline replied while eyeing her.

_This_ _is_ _pointless_, _what_ _the_ _bloody hell_ _are_ _they_ _doing?_

"Rebekah Mikaelson. Are you Nik's new day whore? Aren't you supposed to be on your way home about now? There's not a free breakfast bar."

"I'm not his whore, I have a boyfriend and standards." Klaus rolled his eyes. "Klaus is an impulsive serial killer, Kol is a bipolar maniac, I don't know about you or Elijah, is the whole Mikaelson family crazy?"

_That was cold, sweetheart._

"Elijah is the moral one out of all of us. I, on the other hand, am the big bad bitch of the family. And your family, are all Forbes this skanky?"

"Skanky? I can do more than skanky."

Klaus was exhausted with this petty bickering, Rebekah was going to tear her apart. His feelings were altered when both Rebekah and Caroline both put on a devilish smile.

"I like you Caroline, keep her happy Nik. I'll see you around then, slut." Rebekah strolled away after saying goodbye to them.

"She's intense," Caroline whispered.

"That's fierce Rebekah for you."

"I thought she was your girlfriend, you had me for a second there," Caroline chuckled nervously.

"You were? Why?" Klaus smirked while caressing her cheek and smiling triumphantly.

Caroline flicked his hand away. "Not like that, I didn't want a crazy raging blonde bitch assassin on my ass."

"Same difference. Now it's time to show you to your room." Klaus's phone rang in his pocket. It was finally mommy dearest's turn to interrupt.

"It seems like my mother will be requesting my attendance. Catch up with Rebekah. Tell to show you around then to take you to Katherine Pierce's room for me. Send her kisses." Klaus answered his phone. "Hello mother, I'm on my way."

* * *

"Rebekah! Wait up!" Caroline caught up to her, "hi."

She smirked at her, "are you already bored of Nik? What would you like from me?"

"Klaus told me that you show me around and take me to Katherine's room. I didn't even know Katherine was in Virginia."

"You know Katherine?" Rebekah looked confused and Caroline knew she had to tell her the whole story.

"Yeah, I know all the Mystic Falls people here. We grew up together and are really close now. Then the day after graduation, Katherine didn't come to the party. Then she was just gone. No one was worried because she called each one of us and said she was traveling the world. We wished her luck and then she just never came back. We all miss her, especially Elena with the whole twin connection thing and Jeremy as her brother."

"Well sorry to break it to you, but Katherine lied to you. Our rival organization caught her captive around two years ago, bloody fools. She escaped early last year and has stayed here since." Rebekah opened the glass door to the building on the opposite side of the one Bonnie's penthouse is in.

"Seriously? Katherine has been back in Virginia and she never called me? Rude."

Rebekah shrugged, "that twat is never one for sentiments. Katherine texted me when she came back at two am last night. We're going to her room right now."

"You and Katherine are friends?"

"I do like her more than her newly recruited twin bitch, Elena Gilbert," Rebekah pressed Katherine's room number.

Caroline laughed. Rebekah and Katherine were the only people that thought Elena was annoying at times. Maybe they were made for each other.

"It's Rebekah, let me up you whore, I brought a guest." A groan was the only thing Caroline heard. Then the buzz that allowed them to go the second set of doors echoed through the lobby.

"You guys seem really friendly."

"We understand each other in that way, you'll fit right in." Rebekah flashed a charming Mikaelson smile before they entered the elevator. "Kat's your new roommate, so we'll be seeing lots of each other since I'm Katherine's best friend and Nik's sister. What's the deal with you two?"

"There is no 'deal'. He's an asshole," Caroline rolled her eyes.

"Aren't all the best arses?"

"Aren't you supposed to show me around? Klaus said-"

"Nonsense," Rebekah walked out of the elevator and knocked on the first door to the right. "You have to get your stuff from your place and set up in here. We can go shopping and buy gross junk you fill yourself with on the way."

"It's open!" Katherine yelled. Rebekah twisted the knob and pushed open the door. "Who's the guest?"

Caroline entered the huge room and was in awe. She thought Bonnie's place was big because it was the penthouse, but this looked more like a modern apartment than a dorm room. There were huge windows that filled an entire wall and lots of free space.

Katherine was in the bathroom with the door open. She pushed up her freshly curled brown locks with her fingers a few times before turning to them. Katherine laid her eyes on her old friends and gasped. "Caroline?"

"Katherine!" Caroline smiled when Katherine ran over to her and hugged her. It had been way too long, Caroline didn't even notice how much she missed her.

"What the hell are you doing here? Why aren't you in Mystic Falls with everyone else?" Katherine finally asked when she pulled away.

"You didn't know? They're all here, apparently they came around five days ago."

"So it's not just Stefan, Damon and Bonnie? Elena and Jeremy are here right now?" Caroline nodded excitedly and Katherine squealed. "I have to go see them, it's been like three years. I've missed them so much, I have to go now! I'll be right back you two!" Katherine hugged Caroline and ran out the door.

"That bitch didn't even notice me, what a tramp." Rebekah scoffed and walked to a bedroom with a queen sized bed with all black sheets with minor gold designs. Definitely Katherine's style.

Rebekah sat down the bed, "I'll need to call some movers so they can get you a bed in the other room. Queen right?"

"Yeah, thanks." Caroline sat beside her.

"Let's get you a white cushion framed queen with white sheets, a silver throw, white pillow cases embroidered with silver thread, space grey decor pillows and a big white cloud like blanket with a silver lining." Rebekah looked at her confused facial expression, "what? I major in design. This works because it opposes Katherine's bed design, making the colour combination of yours all the more aesthetically pleasing." Rebekah smiled and dialed a number on her phone. "So who's this boyfriend of yours and what's your deal with Nik?"

"A long story," Caroline replied not wanting to tell the whole story again.

"You can tell me and Katherine while we're shopping," she put the phone up to her ear and cleared her throat. "Hello?" There was silence for a while, "dammit they put me on hold..."

As her new forced friend Rebekah, hissed swear words in her phone, Caroline wondered what was taking Klaus so long. She'd text him and ask where he was, but she currently had no cell phone and it seemed a little clingy. Esther could be giving him a scolding for getting himself lost. Caroline smiled at the thought.

She wished that she could be with Tyler right now. He could help Caroline pack up her stuff from her mom's place and she could watch his rippling muscles work. Caroline's biggest fear was that he was still stuck in that dreadful rainforest, roaming around and hiding from Klaus who was already in 'the middle of nowhere, Virginia'.

"Hey, Caroline," Rebekah handed Caroline her phone that was calling Klaus. "Nik texted me and he said he wants to talk to you."

"Caroline," Klaus started.

"Hi Klaus, why did you want to talk?"

"Making sure my lovely sister hasn't gone on a rampage and slaughtered you because you chipped her nail."

Rebekah scowled, "I can hear you, you wanker."

"My mother has called a family dinner tonight and she's like to meet the person that caused me to fail my mission."

Caroline remembered her and Klaus's conversation about how overprotective his mother was and how she was terrifying enough to make people piss themselves. "Esther? How do you know she doesn't want to kill me for that?"

"I don't. No matter, you will join me tonight. Your absence will be inexcusable. Rebekah, take her dress shopping, nothing cheap. I'll repay you if that's what it takes. I would like mother to be impressed so she might change her mind on what she intends to do with Caroline."

"What she intends to do? What do you mean what she intend to do with me?!" Caroline shouted in a panic. She wasn't ready to die yet.

"Hush love, don't be in a panic. I'll be at your door and six sharp. I expect you to look your best, as you do always." With that, Klaus hung up the phone.

"Oh no..." Caroline put her face in her hands, she wasn't supposed to be worried about mom's until she had to meet her fiancé's. This was too soon.

"Oh no is right. There is no time to waste, first we'll need Katherine, then shopping and last, you'll finally meet the scariest one of us all. Dear old mom."


	7. Chapter 7

"Shotgun!" Katherine yelled as she, Caroline and Rebekah made their way to a red vintage sports car in the back corner of TVD's parking lot. That was where all of TVD's members parked their cars.

A vintage red sports car was parked beside a vintage blue one and she recognized it as easily as she recognized the red one. It was Damon's car.

"Hey isn't this Stefan's car?" Caroline asked as she carefully climbed into the backseat of the bright red vehicle.

"He always lets Rebekah use it," Katherine elbowed Rebekah once she got into the driver's seat.

"Oh shut up," Rebekah glared daggers at Katherine before fastening her seatbelt. What didn't Caroline know?

"Am I missing something guys?"

"What you're missing is Stefan has a thing for Rebekah." Katherine snickered as Rebekah tried to shove her after starting the car.

Caroline giggled and squealed. She was so happy for Stefan. Caroline thought after the tragedy that happened between him, Elena, and Damon a few years ago, he'd never want to date again. "No way!"

"Yes way!"

Caroline relaxed back in her seat and she put on her seatbelt. "Hmm. So Stefan likes you Rebekah? How do you feel about him?"

"I don't." Rebekah said sternly while backing out of the parking space.

"Really?" Caroline and Katherine asked in unison before falling into a fit of laughter.

"I played Stefan for a while and if you'd like, I'll give you some tips on how to seduce the younger Salvatore brother like a Pierce or a Gilbert, even though you seem to be doing it well enough by yourself. First up, he hasn't dated a blonde in years so I'll have to prepare him for you," Katherine smiled.

Caroline thought about what her foxy friend said. He really hadn't dated anyone except the Gilbert and Pierce twin sisters. It was hard to call them the "blank twins" or the "blank sisters". Katherine had kept her birth name 'Pierce' once she found out she was adopted in her early ages. Elena on the other hand, kept her adopted parents name 'Gilbert' even after she found out. This was only _one_ of the things that made the two twins very different even though they shared the same face.

Back on topic, Stefan really never had one night stands or flings with anyone after being played by Katherine for a year and then dating Elena for almost two, until she finally chose Damon over him. Not fair in Caroline's opinion. Stefan was a loner, and he had rather been friends with girls, than have them as his girlfriend. Except this one foreign exchange student girl, Valerie, who he went out with for like a week.

"Stefan despises you, brunette and all, so I highly doubt that he'll let you talk to him about _me_." Rebekah muttered as she drove out of the parking lot, "he lends me his car because I don't have the time to get one. I'm also a good, trustworthy licensed driver and he knows I won't crash his beautiful vehicle."

"He's also interested in you and he should be. You're super sexy, he's extremely hot-"

"He is _not_ interested in me, you moron. Even if he was, it's not going to happen."

Katherine gasped, "so you're saying, you don't think he's even remotely hot?"

"I never said that. I just know he's still infatuated with Elena Gilbert, I'm probably just a distraction for him," Rebekah sighed.

Caroline could tell what Rebekah was feeling, Caroline felt it all the time in early high school before she got together with Tyler. Caroline used to crush on Matt, hard, despite knowing he just broke up with Elena and she was ecstatic when he asked her out, but she was also terrified of being the rebound girl.

She knew Rebekah didn't want to get her heart broken, and by the way she's acting, for what might be the millionth time. "Hey, don't worry about it. Stefan dated her all the way back in high school. I'm positive he's gotten over his relationship with Elena. Stefan's one of my best friends and a great guy, I'll ask for some info about you the next time I get the chance. That is if you want."

There was a small smile on Rebekah's lips for a second, but she put it away quickly. "Whatever, do as you please."

"So you do think he's cute. I definitely second that." Katherine smirked.

"Aren't you fucking my brother?" Rebekah put on an evil grin that could be noticed from Saturn.

Caroline eyes widened as she nearly choked on her own saliva. "You're fucking _Klaus_?!"

"Woah, Calm down, Carebear. Not a chance, I'm not just 'fucking', I'm _dating_ Elijah." Katherine almost swooned off her seat, "he's incredible, but that doesn't mean I deny the obvious."

"What the bloody hell was that reaction Caroline? I knew there was something going on between you two."

Katherine scrunched her nose, "you like Klaus? What about Tyler?"

"I don't like Klaus!" It felt like no matter how hard she tried to prove that nothing was going on between her and Klaus, everyone disregarded her efforts. "I'm still dating good old Tyler Lockwood, okay?"

It was Rebekah's turn to choke, "Tyler as in Tyler Lockwood from Mystic Falls?" She looked at her rear view mirror to see her reaction. Caroline nodded slowly and Rebekah shook her head. "Why Tyler out of all people? Why Tyler over Nik?"

"I don't know, maybe because I've known Tyler my whole life and I've known Klaus for like two hours? My standards my play a part in that too."

"Two hours? You spent five nights in the middle of nowhere in the Amazon, it was only you two, you were alone-"

"-and nothing happened," Caroline rolled her eyes. "Don't you hate all the girls that Klaus likes? What's different with me? Why are you forcing him on me?"

Katherine turned to talk to Caroline, "you were alone with Klaus for five whole days in the middle of nowhere? How the hell did that happen?"

"Long story..."

"Wait a tick, did you just say that you're a girl that he likes?"

Here Rebekah goes.

"So Niklaus _does_ fancy you, I knew it.

"I didn't mean it like-"

"...we've got time. I don't know what the hell going on so tell the damn story, Care-"

Katherine threw her hands up and slouched back in her chair when Rebekah butt in. Again. "-and I'm not forcing you, I'm guiding you on the right path. I may sound biased against Tyler and that's because I am. No matter how horrid Nik is, he's a better choice than Tyler. I also can't believe you're pulling the childhood friend card on Nik, have you ever heard of love at first sight?"

"Oh my god..."

Did all Mikaelsons' hate Tyler? Klaus had the burning passion to obliterate him, Elijah didn't trust her because of him, the only reason Kol didn't blow up then entire world just to make sure he was gone, was because he was occupied with Jeremy. Now Rebekah wouldn't shut up about him not being good enough for her.

Katherine picked at her nail, "Care, tell us the story. From start to finish. In detail."

"I'll give a semi detailed explanation for you guys. After all the racket, I don't have enough energy to tell you the full story. So about a week before my birthday, Tyler brought me to Brazil, super romantic."

Caroline saw Rebekah roll her eyes at the rear view mirror, "super romantic."

"Everything was great and stuff until the night before my birthday. That's when I met Klaus. Something was wrong with our reservations at this fancy restaurant and I was waiting outside while Tyler tried to figure out what was going on. It was maybe an hour until midnight and it was kind of cold. I was wearing this pink dress, it was super hot, but it didn't do me good in cold weather. Klaus came up to me and gave me his jacket for no reason."

Rebekah smiled, "that's gentlemanly of my brother."

"Or an easy way to get into her pants." Katherine smirked and twirled her hair. "Either way, very effective tactic."

"Stop over reading things. This is when things started to go downhill. Tyler got jealous and ended up leaving the restaurant." Caroline decided to leave out the out the glass throwing part. She didn't want to add two more murderers onto the kill Tyler sign up sheet.

"When he left, he dropped an engagement ring box, so knowing if I refused Klaus's jacket and endured the cold for a minute longer, I could be planning a wedding. So I proceeded to have the worst birthday ever. Tyler and I went on a tour of the Amazon, Klaus blew up our tour jeep, Tyler escaped and the driver died."

"Klaus was blowing up a jeep and you, Miss Mystic Falls, survived? Either you're totally freaky, a natural or the almighty wolf king messed up for once. And on top of that, Tyler left you in there?" Katherine shook her head in disbelief. "Dick move."

"So much for standards." Rebekah muttered and Caroline glared at her, "what? Don't stop on my behalf. Continue sweets."

"Klaus saved me from the burning car when he came over to look for Tyler, but found out that he escaped. We both started looking for him because of our common but uncommon interest. Then I tried to run away when I found out that he killed people for a living. It didn't work."

"I wonder why," Rebekah grinned, "it's not like my bastard of a brother trained to chase people down his whole life. So far only the legend Katherine Pierce has outrun him." Katherine curtsied, "Tyler won't achieve what she has."

"After my terrible birthday, I broke down in tears, ranted to him about my problems and cried myself to sleep in his arms."

"Sounds like someone's giving her a toothache," Katherine whispered way too loudly to Rebekah and she giggled.

"Next day, Klaus thought it would be funny to play hide and seek then scare me. It was the opposite. Then he had to look for a piece of glass burried in my leg from the car crash, once he got it out, he kissed my leg which was weird and does not count as anything 'happening'."

"Of course not, that's just Nik being his normal flirtatious self."

"Thank you. Next I finished my bath and we walked for the entire day. He told me a blonde joke and I got mad. Then Klaus said he knew a some smart blondes, one was you Rebekah. Sorry Katherine, you don't make the cut."

"Oh god," Katherine put on the face she used when she mocked Elena. "I'm depressed because I don't make the dumb bimbos squad."

"Please," Rebekah yawned, "you wish you were blonde."

"Sorry, but this natural, thick, dark hair, highlights all my sexy features." She pulled down the mirror in the front seat and messed up her hair a bit. "My babies don't need to be bleached to be beautiful."

Caroline laughed as Katherine flipped the mirror up again. "It went on like that for a few days then I got heat exhaustion and passed out and Klaus took care of me. Then Damon found us."

Katherine and Rebekah both grunted and Caroline sighed. They both hated Damon too. Well for Katherine, not hate, more like she disliked him but didn't mind playing games with him once in a while. The only reason Katherine disliked Damon was because he'd turn her down everytime she tried to flirt with him. Rebekah clearly wasn't to fond of him either. Caroline personally had grown to love and accept Damon as one of her best friends even after their bad relationship. Everyone hated everyone that she thought was a decent human being.

"Then Kol almost ran me over and we kind of vibed after he stopped naming the ways he was going to kill me. I argued with some bodyguards and I have no idea where they are now. We got on a jet, Klaus and I fell asleep together and I accidently gave him butterfly kisses. Then we were at TVD before I knew it."

"Sounds like you two have tons of chemistry, you'll need to get rid of that for the dinner or our mother will tear the woman who's distracting her little wolf to shreds."

Caroline groaned and slouched in her chair. She had forgotten why they went out in the first place. Why did she have the worst possible luck this week?

Caroline tried to change the subject, "why do you call Klaus a wolf? Damon calls him the 'big bad wolf', Katherine called him 'almighty wolf king' and you just said your mom called him her 'little wolf.'"

"There is lots where the name 'wolf' came from," Katherine sighed. "One time, he slashed my back with three small knives because he thought I was on the enemies side, but in reality I was escaping that hell hole after I manipulated it's leader. We met up halfway and you know how he is with his potential enemies, "a simple misunderstanding really, but I'd love to get him back for it. I'm glad his paranoia and impulses didn't leave three huge scars on my back. For that, I call him a wolf wannabe or dumb doggie on occasion. But I rather not be in sniffing distance of Klaus."

Caroline couldn't help but laugh, there was always something with her and people. Like, it was as if she couldn't not make people hate her.

Katherine made an 'ooh!' sound as she remembered another story. "Damon calls Klaus the 'big bad wolf' because of the time he and Stefan went on a mission and murdered every student in three dorm rooms before getting to the right one saying 'I'll huff and puff and decapitate each one of you' down the halls."

Caroline shivered at the thought of Stefan being able to murder. Klaus who looked and felt like a normal friend in the morning could switch the way he acted in a second. From friendly to frightening. Everyone was not as they seemed.

"I know our mother calls him her little wolf because he's different from the rest of us. Naturally stronger and faster than the other Mikaelsons'. Mother loves him dearly because he's the product of her unfaithfulness to our father who mercilessly abused her. She loved Nik's real father and because of that, our father would sexually abuse her then torture and beat Nik, day and night, whenever he had a chance, for hours and hours, since he was a boy."

"Oh my god..." Caroline whispered.

Klaus pushed the topic of his fathers away when she asked about it. He said he never met his real dad and the dad that raised him was now dead. It's absolutely horrible that he had to go through that. It made sense he didn't tell her about it.

"I know, it was brutal. There were multiple times Elijah and I tried to stand up to our father, but he'd always come back for Nik after we interfered. I remember one time, I was fifteen years old, and I went into my father's bedroom with a kitchen knife and had every intention to drive it through his heart, but Elijah stopped me. He's dead now and I'm glad. Our father was a major pain in the ass." Rebekah turned into the parking lot of a cute and stylish boutique. "Anyways, enough about my family's tragedies, it's time to get you dress."

* * *

"Go get the lady who tried to tear you away from me Niklaus," Esther ordered sternly as she smoothed out his jacket. She held his face and stared into his blue eyes with worry and anger. "I will not allow her to leave without a consequence."

Klaus chuckled and took her hands off, "yes mother," he replied. Like bloody hell she'd lay her hands on Caroline.

He made his way out of her office and knocked on Rebekah's room down the hall. Girls seemed to know what all girls are doing, so his lovely sister was a great source of information for Caroline. "Rebekah, is Caroline ready?"

"How am I supposed to know," Rebekah hissed from behind the door, "I'm not her babysitter. Find out for yourself, I'm trying to get ready for the unnecessary dinner you caused."

Klaus clicked his tongue and smiled, "did another one of your little boy toys who you thought would be your one true love stand you up? You know, Kol, Elijah and I are the only men who can stand your snobby attitude, therefore, the only men in your life."

"I'm sorry, are you jealous because I'm stealing all the good men from your grasp?"

"If you were stealing men like you steal candy from children, maybe you'd actually be in a relationship with Stefan. He flirts with you a few times a day, lets you borrow his most prized possession, whenever he's on missions with me, he requests to see you. If you were a normal person, you would see these as very outright signs, but you refuse it because deep down your insecurities and anxiety tell you that he loves Katerina's twin sister and once he has sex with you, Stefan will go running back to that girl."

"God Nik, leave! Maybe if you're fast enough, I won't chop off the only decent part of you!" Klaus bit back a laugh and headed down the stairs. Rebekah was always hostile for no reason at all.

Elijah caught him on the way down, "hello Niklaus. Going to pick up Miss Forbes? I believe she was assigned to Katerina's room. If it wouldn't be too much trouble-"

"No worries, Elijah. I'll make sure to tell her you're craving sex and invite her over on my way out."

"No need," Elijah straightened out his suit and began walking towards the kitchen quarters to make sure everything was going smoothly. "I'll be heading over there."

Klaus shook his head and finally got t ot hedoor. He opened it and Kol stood outside. "Hello Nik. Is Bex still preparing herself in her room?"

"When is she not?"

"Good, I have to tell her about the game my mate and I played. It's 'awesome', as so Jeremy says. He knows me so well, it's as if he's my other half. It took me all my willpower to get away from the lad then over here to get ready for a whole lot of mother's raging. I have to go get dressed and mentally prepare myself with Bekah. Then she can compliment me on my incredible looks and great charm. Speaking of incredible looks, tell Caroline she's a sweet little thing before it's too late. I'm betting mother'll rip her head off before we even get to the table." Kol raised his eyebrows and grinned before he pushed through Klaus and into the house. He was much too excited today.

Klaus finally arrived at Katherine's building after what seemed to be a millennia of Kol's chatter, just Elijah, Rebekah's hostility and his mother's overprotectiveness. He pressed the buzzer and Katherine immediately let him in without a word. He made his way up the elevator and to her room.

Klaus knocked and Katherine answered, "hello Katerina."

"Klaus." He couldn't help but chuckle at the quiet aggression he could feel boiling under her skin.

He scanned her and smirked, as she sashayed to the couch. This was the type of woman Elijah liked. Harsh and untamed, scandalous and sexy, rude and unmannered. Quite like him actually, except, without any sense of class.

"Stop staring Klaus, you'll make Elijah jealous." She crossed her legs and glared at him with a sarcastic smile. "Your date is coming soon enough so you can feast your eyes on her. In the meantime, I'm off limits and happily taken."

"Believe me, I'm not interested. But on the topic of my elder brother, he'll be seeing you after our dinner for some lousy sex." Klaus teased.

"Please Klaus, you've never had sex with me or Elijah, I'm hoping. You'll never experience the highs that we have on a daily basis."

"Daily basis? You are quite the whore, aren't you."

"At least I'm not with different person every night, man slut."

Klaus was about to get her back when Caroline walked into his field of view. She looked absolutely magnificent. Most of her beautiful golden hair was pulled back into a messy braided bun and the rest was let loose and framed her face. She wore a red over-the-shoulder corset dress that stopped right above her knees.

Caroline rushed over to the bathroom mirror without noticing him and checked herself out. She twirled around once before groaning. "Oh my god, Katherine! This is all wrong, I think I overdid it. I think it's too short. She'll slut shame me then stab me once she sees this."

"You look great," Katherine smiled, not letting her know about Klaus's presence.

"I know I do, I just don't know if she can handle it. Will she call me, I don't know, a prostitute?" Katherine snickered and Caroline whined. "I'm sorry I don't know any old people disses! You know what, I'm already decapitated, Klaus is going to think I'm a shallow little twat. I don't even know what _that_ means, Rebekah just keeps on using it."

"Klaus? Since when did you care what he thought?"

"Since he's the one introducing me to his mother and I have the feeling the description of sex partner might _accidentally _slip out just to spite me."

"Oh sweetheart, I'd never call you a twat, you're much too beautiful."

Caroline whipped around and gasped, "Klaus! Is it already time?"

"Yes," Klaus amusedly smiled at her, "I believe so." Klaus picked up his phone and checked the time. They were late already. "We're actually running ten minutes late, so let's be on our way."

Caroline nodded at herself in the mirror slowly. She headed into her room and pulled out a white jacket with black buttons. Reluctantly, Caroline walked towards him. "Bye Katherine, I'll see you tonight."

"No you won't, I'll be seeing Elijah tonight. You'll have to find another room, sorry not sorry." Katherine stretched her legs and stood up and smirked at Klaus, "wolf."

"Katerina." Katherine rolled her eyes while waving with Caroline with a mischievous smile and her hair twirled around her finger before disappearing in her bedroom.

When Caroline shut the door behind her, Klaus stroked on of the locks of hair that had slipped out of her bun to frame her gorgeous features. "You look exquisite."

Caroline flicked him away, "do not touch my hair. I don't want anything getting ruined, especially since I went all wrong with this look. Yes, I look hot, but hot for clubbing or a high school reunion."

"All heads would turn no matter. You could be wearing rags and mens' jaws would drop, love." Klaus smiled and opened the front door for her after they went down the hall and through the elevator.

"What if she doesn't like me?" Klaus didn't answer and she looked at the smile he tried to hide. "This isn't funny! If she doesn't like me, I will _die_. Like no breathing, no heart beating, possibly no head."

Klaus had to laugh and Caroline punched his arm because of it. Fortunately for him, he barely felt anything. Her eyes were filled with anxiety and frustration. She really didn't want to die tonight. Klaus didn't know why, but Caroline expression was alluring and hysterical at the same time. Maybe the reason for the unusual feeling under the surface, she truly feared for her life because of a partly sarcastic remark.

"I told you, not funny!" Klaus raised his eyebrows at her and an unwilling smile crept up on her face. Her pearly whites shone as she started to laugh as well. "Okay, maybe it's a little funny."

"Your fear is very amusing. Hilarious even, but I can assure you, I won't allow my mother to harm you for a situation where Tyler Lockwood is at fault. I won't let her harm you at all." Klaus met Caroline's eyes that shone with gratefulness.

They got to his house sooner than expected and he opened the door. Klaus was about to step in when he realized Caroline had stopped before the front steps. She was still scared. Klaus walked down and took her hand reassuringly, just like in the jeep. "No one will touch you other than me. You will come to no harm."

Caroline paused and let go of his hand, "Rebekah said I shouldn't. It might provoke your mom and-"

"Hush Caroline," Klaus pressed his finger to her lips. Her breath hitched against him and the feeling of her soft perfect lips on him almost caused Klaus to shudder. He brought his finger down slowly and it caught her bottom lip. Caroline looked up at him and he never wanted to kiss someone so badly in his life. "I promise, I'll protect you." Klaus held her hand again and she nodded.

He lead her inside and the help took her jacket from her, causing their hands to part. Caroline thanked the woman quietly and scurried towards Klaus immediately, moving her hand closer to his. Her fingers slightly brushed his and Klaus could almost feel her apprehension. It was a shame his mother wanted to get rid of Caroline, it would be a bother to defend her all night. Klaus connected their fingers one by one and he felt her shoulders' tension gradually melt away. At the same time, this is the only occasion that Caroline requested for him to touch her, it was charming.

Klaus emerged through the door of the dining room. All of his family, except for Esther, was already seated. He smiled, "hello brothers, sister. I'd apologize for my tardiness if I actually cared." Klaus pulled out a chair beside Rebekah and allowed Caroline to take a seat there. He sat down in the chair next to her.

Elijah greeted Caroline friendlier than he did the first time. "Hello, Miss Forbes. Thank you for joining us tonight by mother's invitation, it's a pleasure having you. Our mother will be here shortly."

"Hey, Elijah. You can just call me Caroline, thanks." Her hand moved away from his as she extended her arm to shake his hand across the table. The warmth of her hand on his was now gone and Klaus realized it was going to stay like that when she folded her hands in lap.

"Sweet Caroline," Kol put on his lousy, playful grin, "it's been too long even though I last saw you yesterday. Has anyone told you, you look ravishingly sexy tonight?" Kol beckoned for her hand and he kissed it once it got to him.

Klaus tried to shove down the jealousy emerging from within him. He didn't understand why Kol thought it was necessary to get smitten with Caroline. Kol had been all over her since he met her. They were joking and laughing as if they were mates when they had barely talked for twenty minutes in total and called himself a psychotic maniac.

All Caroline did with Klaus when she met him was scream, run and cry. There wasn't anything different between him and Kol except class and self respect. They both had killed too many people to count, so why did Caroline treat him like a monster when they met and Kol like an old friend?

Klaus narrowed his eyes at Kol, "Kol you can certainly tone down the 'I want to have sex with you aura' that is frankly emitting from you."

"What about you Nik? You stayed alone with her in the middle of nowhere for five days, you can afford to share a little. Gee, I wonder what you attempted to do to pass time. Tragically and naturally, Caroline would reject you. I mean, she has standards."

"You're one to talk about standards Kol. You go out to that trashy strip club every weekend. Apart from that, you're playing those games with your mate." Klaus chuckled and shook his head. "Who wants a man who plays video games and lazes around with his one and only friend all day?"

"Who's also incredibly handsome," Kol chimed in.

"Caroline has eyes you two," Rebekah groaned. "Neither one of you is having sex with her. At least not right now. But you're wrong Kol, her standards are so low they're not even considered standards at all."

"Hey, I have decent standards Rebekah." Caroline whisper-shouted.

"Then explain how Tyler Lockwood wound up as your _boyfriend_."

"Silence children. I am now here." Esther strutted through the door and to the seat at the head of the table. She smoothened her long white halter dress before sitting down and studying each one of them, ending at Caroline. She didn't waste anytime with small talk, Esther got straight down to business. "So, this is the Caroline Forbes." Caroline tensely nodded and began tapping rhymically on her leg. "The one that endangered Niklaus's life."

"Yes, that's me. I know you want an explanation, so I'll give it to you right now." Caroline's tapping speed increased and it's sound decreased as if she was quieting the barely audible noise to make room for her voice.

Caroline was nervous, but she did a good job in hiding it. If Klaus wasn't specifically trained to pick these things up, he'd think she was as confident as a lioness. "You see Mrs. Mikaelson, I didn't intend to hurt Klaus in anyway. I didn't even know what was going on with Tyler and Klaus and this whole mess-"

"Quiet, Caroline Forbes." His mother's voice was gentle but piercing at the same time and Caroline flinched. Klaus subtly placed his hand on hers, resisting the urge to face Caroline, but he could tell she relaxed a little. Esther sternly focused her gaze on Klaus and he smiled back at her.

"Yes mother?"

"Walk me through each and every event that happened." Her icy articulations and intimidating stare would make him shiver if he wasn't her child. This just made him laugh. "I want the truth Niklaus, I will not tolerate lies of any such to protect this Caroline Forbes."

"I'm sure Caroline can handle that job just fine mother. Go on sweetheart."

"Son-"

"No, I don't think so, dear old mum. You invited Caroline for a reason other than executing her. If you just wanted to kill her, then you would've sent me to do it. I'm sure Caroline is an excellent storyteller." Klaus motioned for a woman across the room to fill his glass with wine and whispered a thank you in her ear.

"Mrs. Mikaelson, I first met up with Klaus when I was waiting outside a restaurant in Brazil, late at night."

"May I ask why you were in Brazil, Caroline?" Elijah quired respectfully.

"I was with Tyler for the week of my birthday. We went there because he planned on proposing to me at twelve am on my birthday, that was why we were at the restaurant. I met Klaus outside for a minute or two, then he headed in. I thought it was just a little talk with a stranger, but I met him again the next day."

"Ready yourselves. This is the best part guys," Klaus put his lips to the glass that was newly filled with red wine.

Rebekah shook her head. "You're wrong Nik. The best part was the first morning."

"What is it? What happened?" Kol smiled eagerly, "did they have sex all day?"

"We're about to eat Kol," Elijah sighed. "So it would be much appreciated if you refrained from talking about sexual intercourse as much as possible. Excuse our family's interruptions Caroline, please proceed."

Before Caroline could continue, the waiters brought out their dishes. It was de-shelled lobster with risotto and a garden salad. They delivered each one of them their food and they began to eat

"Klaus blew up me and Tyler's jeep in pursuit of him," Caroline started after she finished swallowing her first bite of salad.

Kol clasped his hand over his mouth to stop a laugh that had already left his mouth. "Pfft-" Klaus pointed his knife at Kol and gave him a warning smile. Kol crossed his arms again while silently chuckling with Rebekah who was across from him.

"Then why are you still breathing?" Elijah glaced at Klaus with a questioning look before he focused on Caroline again. "Niklaus is not as reckless as Kol who just blows up anything in his path until he hits the target. My brother is not _precise_, but he knows how to get things like this done in an efficient manner. His mission was to capture Tyler Lockwood was it not?"

Caroline was overwhelmed by the information that Elijah gave her in a matter of seconds. "I-I, um-"

"Yes," Esther replied which instantly put an end to her stammering. "That was the mission I assigned to him."

"Brother, answer this please. Your priority and what you're expected to do, is to spare Tyler Lockwood's life and Tyler Lockwood's life only. If you performed the explosion correctly, Tyler Lockwood would barely survive the impact. A normal person with no experience or training would lose their life immediately. So what happened?"

"Nothing happened," Klaus chuckled, "Caroline is just freakishly a natural at surviving death, perfect recruitment."

"He screwed up," Rebekah smiled and took a fork full of risotto.

Of course Rebekah was still mad about the Stefan incident, but that was no reason to have to make him explain to mother why Caroline didn't die. "Should I start calling you Run-Her-Mouth-Rebekah?"

"Should I start calling you Neanderthal-Nik?"

Klaus threw his arms in the air. "It was a simple joke Rebekah, you know you'll get over it in an hour or so."

Kol raised his eyebrow, "what joke?"

"Nothing that he hasn't said before." Rebekah beckoned for the little black haired lady to fill her glass.

"Tell me what happened." Esther's eyes bore into his, but he refused to give in and stayed silent. "Speak, Niklaus," Esther ordered him and Klaus held her gaze for as long as he could, but Esther was always better at this game than him.

"Yes, I slipped up and it was because of Caroline, mother."

"You destroyed your mission because you wanted to spare this woman's life? I know that you are not one to go soft mode, especially not on an important mission that concerns Tyler Lockwood. You are not one to go soft at all, tell me if this woman is changing that or not."

"I spared Caroline's life because I felt like it. She's a beautiful young woman and I very do prefer her alive rather than dead. There is no change in my attitude."

"You are only telling half of the truth, I will not continue to listen to your pointless lies and excuses. The full truth this time, Niklaus."

"Don't get fussy before our dessert arrives," Esther did not smile at his joke.

No one did.

Everywhere was silent. They were waiting for his explanation.

Caroline was searching his face too. All he told her was that he blew up the car to save her from Tyler. Not the full truth and he wouldn't dare tell anyone. Klaus's voice and eyes darkened at the thought. The only reason he was edging this close to the truth was because Caroline was brushing her fingers against his as if she was asking him if he hid more information from her. Esther's eyes caught this and she almost sneered.

"I would not allow Tyler the satisfaction of killing her before I killed him, I didn't want _him_ to take her." He filled his words with intensity and lowered his voice. Klaus focused on his mother's hazel orbs until she believed he was hiding nothing else.

"If that is the only reason Niklaus, you will kill Caroline. Now. She's a distraction to you and could weaken the remarkable assassin in you."

"Not on my dinner," Rebekah warned. "I'm already getting sick of looking at him. I don't need Nik spilling blood all over my lobster."

"Rebekah," Klaus smiled, "my beloved sister, I apologize for all that I said earlier today, but you should've gotten over it by now. You're turning a small joke into World War Three."

"Niklaus, Rebekah, silence." Esther commanded, "I don't need Caroline's story. It is of no use to me, her actions have lead to the consequences she deserves. Anyone who tries to deteriorate the nature of the assassin in my wolf, deserves to be punished. She will be dead by nightfall, tomorrow and it must be by your hands Niklaus. Elijah, see to it that he does his job."

Klaus could feel Caroline's fingers trembling above his and when he tried to hold them, she pulled her hand away. She was afraid of him, she thought he was going to kill her. Caroline believed Klaus would actually kill her because his mother ordered him to do so. Klaus was the terrifying serial killer to her again. It was all because of his mother's blinding overprotectiveness. "Mother-"

Elijah shot Klaus a look telling him to shut his mouth before he made matters worse. The quick glance told him that Elijah would take care of it. "Mother, I think it would be best if you calm down. Your maternal instincts are clouding your sane judgement. What has this person done wrong? She simply fell into the wrong place at the wrong time from what I hear. Niklaus isn't hurt, he isn't sick. This woman has done nothing to harm my brother or endanger his life. He has put her life in danger once and we have yet to finish the story."

"I've actually put her life in danger twice already, that is, if we're counting _mother_." Klaus glared at his mother, knowing that she hated toxic and abusive relationships between lovers. If she made him kill Caroline after this, Esther was delusional. "Lockwood threw a glass at her face in the restaurant because I gave her that jacket. Yes, it might not have been direct, but my actions were certainly a cause for that effect."

The deafening silence over came the room once again. Caroline looked down at her black heels. All eyes were on her and Klaus could guess they were all thinking who the hell would date that angry, aggressive man out of their free will? And who kept stuff like that to themselves?

Rebekah stopped eating and looked at Caroline. She whispered something harshly into her ear and Caroline's voice cracked in reply. Rebekah got up from her seat and took Caroline's hand. She helped her out of her chair, "excuse us, we have somethings to discuss. Thank you for the _excellent _evening." As Rebekah passed Klaus, she whispered in his ear, "nice going Nik," before disappearing upstairs with Caroline.

The table didn't lose it's silence after they left and Klaus picked at his food. Of course Caroline didn't want that to be mentioned. If she did, she would of said it the first time she got the chance. She didn't want them to go after Tyler.

Elijah left the table soon after the incident and Kol excused himself to go find Jeremy some time later on.

It was only him and his mother left at the table. Klaus had to grit his teeth to stop himself from lashing out at her. Before Esther got up to answer a phone call, she stared at Klaus, but he refused to return the action. "Niklaus, look at me."

Klaus tore his eyes from his plate to meet hers, "what, _mother_?" He hissed out.

"You will not see that girl unless you have the intention of destroying her right then and there. If I catch you two, your punishments will be unimaginable. Do you understand?" Klaus stayed silent. "Do you understand, Niklaus?"

"Yes, I understand your _terms and conditions_. I believe someone's waiting for you on the other line so I suggest you get to that."

Esther left but Klaus stayed at the table. Rebekah and Caroline had not come down yet. Which meant, he had to go up, disregarding his mother's clear instructions.

He had to go. To clean another mess he made.


	8. Chapter 8

"I can't believe he did that to me! To Tyler! He called Tyler out and now your whole family is going to be after him! Now your whole family sees me as a weak little girl who lets her boyfriend abuse her and she still stands up for him! I don't want to be looked at like damaged goods Rebekah, I don't." Caroline was sobbing into her hands and Rebekah rubbed her back soothingly. "Esther will never let me become an assassin, she'll just tell Klaus to break my neck! On the bright side, it won't be for long because I'm going to die by the end of tomorrow because your mother despises me!"

Caroline had fallen into a pit of despair. She didn't know why she was bawling her eyes out uncontrollably or why she felt a pit of fear in her grow larger by the minute. It was as if she was in seventh grade, going through puberty all over again, but this time, it was worse. The dark and cold fear of losing her life and losing Tyler's life was overwhelming. It felt like she had been like this for hours.

Had it been hours? Caroline had lost track of time, she forgot how long she'd been crying in Rebekah's room. Rebekah had taken her there when she excused them from dinner.

"Caroline, you should go take a nice, hot shower and we'll talk after. Tonight, I'll take your lovely dress to the dry cleaners and I'll give you something to sleep in. Okay?"

Caroline realized the damp parts of her dress that were wet with tears. It was kind of gross. "Why are you being so nice to me?" Caroline sniffed, "don't I look like some weak little crybaby?"

"You do, but you know, us girls got to stick together and we're friends so that helps your case. Don't expect tons of sympathy after this," Rebekah smiled.

Rebekah took her to the guest bathroom and let her shower. Caroline stayed in there for more than a while. It was as if she could feel every single drop of water hit her and stream down her body, so she could tell the difference between the shower water and the salty drops that left her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. She really wanted to stop crying because she knew it was pointless and wouldn't achieve anything.

After Caroline showered, Rebekah gave her one of the many short silk and lace nightgowns in her closet. Caroline couldn't help but felt bad because now some of her nice mini nightgowns would also be damp with her tears.

Rebekah crouched down in front of where Caroline was sitting on Rebekah's bed. She lifted Caroline's chin from her hands and looked her straight in the eye with her beautiful blue ones. "Caroline Forbes, get a hold of yourself. You are not a little, weak, and helpless girl. You are a strong woman, not damaged goods and you will not die anytime soon. Nik would never harm you intentionally. I can see it in the way he acts with you and the way he looks at you. He wants to keep you safe and no matter what my mother threatens him with, Nik won't end your life."

The words of assurance from Rebekah calmed her down a bit. She was glad she met her. She and Klaus were good comforters and Rebekah helped Caroline refrain from hyperventilating and ultimately killing herself with a panic attack.

A few minutes passed and Caroline decided she just needed to sleep. Rebekah lead her through the pitch black hallways and took her to one of the enormous guest rooms and gave her a hug before leaving.

Her huge bed was very appealing to Caroline's tired eyes. She flicked off the lights and made her way over there. Her body flopped onto the big white bed and quickly adjusted to it. While wrapping herself in the sheets and trying to quiet her useless cries, Caroline wondered if she was afraid of Tyler dying or herself dying. Pushing down the selfish thoughts she had, Caroline told herself that Tyler came first. She was convinced that she would try her best to find a way to keep Tyler safe in the few hours she had left. Caroline closed her eyes with a shaky sigh and after a couple minutes, slowly drifted off into her unconscious.

_"Klaus_, _there_ _you_ _are."_ _Caroline_ _laughed as she finally found the familiar face she'd been looking for after he left a note about meeting her on her bed stand, but didn't mention a location. Klaus stood out in the middle of the training field and the only source of light were the tall lights for football fields that had been installed. He turned to her with an unreadable expression, but when she reached him, Klaus didn't hesitate to hug her. _

_Caroline felt the familiar embrace of Klaus and she squeezed him back. Caroline had no idea why she felt like those pesky butterflies start to wake up in her stomach and tried to ignore them. His strong arms rubbed her back and eventually slipped down to her waist and she uncharacteristically wrapped her hands around his neck. She knew what she was doing but she couldn't stop her movements. It was weird. Klaus pulled her body closer to his and Caroline could feel his breath against her face. _

_Slowly, Caroline lifted her chin to look at him. "I'm glad you're back safe. You had me worried there," she whispered while meeting his eyes. They were _different_._

_Klaus leaned into her and Caroline's heart began to pound at her ribs. At first, she unconsciously leaned her face towards him too, it was only when Caroline realized the new lust and coldness in Klaus's eyes did she inhale sharply and tilt her head away from him. This surprised him as if she had let him kiss her plenty of times, kind of strange._

_Her heart was still pounding away recklessly in her chest, but now it was because she was afraid. _

_Afraid of the nearly murderous eyes of Klaus, afraid of how Tyler would react if she actually continued with the kiss and most of all, afraid that she had no intention of _not_ kissing Klaus until she realized the darkness in Klaus's eyes. Was she giving into her own deep, dark desires that she locked so far away, Caroline didn't even know about them? _

_Caroline let go of Klaus's neck and backed away a little once he let go of her. She felt like she could finally control her actions. "Klaus, you know I can't do this, __Tyler-"_

_"If you feel that way, then you are no longer of use to me." Klaus's words were laced with venom and he reached into the pocket of his leather jacket. "I'm sorry I have to do this, but your loyalties lie with Tyler Lockwood and we cannot allow that, you'll break the great routine we have going on here." _

_Before she could even respond, Klaus pointed a gun to her head. Though he just apologized, there was no sympathy or sincerity in his voice. Klaus slowly put his finger on the trigger and Caroline knew what was unfolding before her eyes. Klaus was following Esther's orders. She couldn't run away, no matter how fast Caroline thought she was, Klaus was faster. He would catch up to her in an instant like in the rainforest, or just shoot her in the back for all he cared. _

_"Please Klaus, don't-" _

_Klaus pulled the trigger._

Caroline sat up and closed her mouth once she realized she screamed. Cold beads of sweat rolled down her forehead and her breaths were shallow and heavy. The sound of the young lady's heart beating out of her chest along with the echo of her ear splitting cry of terror, rang throughout her ears. It was only then that Caroline realized she had a nightmare.

Three short knocks on the door of the guest bedroom caused her attention to snap towards the sound.

Someone heard her.

"Caroline," an accented voice asked and before she could even get up to answer, the door creaked open.

Caroline sniffed and turned her face away when she heard someone step inside. She didn't want anyone seeing her like this. She was worried about Tyler's life, she was worried about her life and it was completely overwhelming. Caroline broke down in front of Rebekah because they were friends, she couldn't afford any other of the super Mikaelsons to see her in this state.

The lights flickered on causing her to squint and she turned to see the man of her dreams, or in this case, or any case involving him really, nightmares.

Klaus took a step towards her bed and Caroline backed up, clenching her blanket with incredible grip. "It's just me love. What happened? I thought you were hurt, you were screaming."

"It was just a nightmare," Caroline answered quietly and as Klaus walked to her bed, she tensed.

Caroline guessed he put two and two together because he stopped in his tracks.

They stayed in that position, silent for a minute.

"About me, I'm guessing. I'm forbidden to be here anyways so I'll let myself out then allow you to calm down without the attendance of a brutal killer." Klaud turned on his heels and began to make his way to the door.

That's what Caroline wanted. To be alone, or at least without Klaus looming around her after he was ordered to get rid of her. But a part of Caroline that was buried deep beneath the surface, ached for him to stay and tell her that he wasn't going to kill because she meant something to him. Tell her that he cares about her even if she is with Tyler.

For the first time, Caroline allowed that part of her dominate at this moment. Caroline told herself she was probably just looking for someone's attention. Being selfish, again but right now, Caroline didn't really care.

"No Klaus, don't go." Caroline wished her words came out as a strong or even just steady statement. Instead, they came out as a quiet and voice cracked whimper.

Confused with her request, Klaus turned to face her. Caroline felt her cheeks burning with embarrassment when his eyes searched her for any clues on what the hell she was doing.

Caroline held out her hand, finding herself desperate for any kind of touch or comfort. Anything to tell her it was all a dream and she was really awake now. "Please. I want to talk."

Klaus's eyes softened at her and Caroline felt herself turning red. Klaus sat on her bed and hooked his fingers on hers. The slightest touch from him sent shivers throughout her body. It was like electricity pulsing through her veins.

"Caroline, I don't know why it would occur to me that telling my family about you and Tyler's incidents, wouldn't have an effect on you."

Caroline looked down at the white sheets. _Was_ _Klaus_ _apologizing?_

"The fact that you didn't mention it the first time had slipped my mind because I wanted to add another point to the argument. I didn't want my mother to make me kill you," Klaus rubbed circles over the veins on her wrist and she let out a shaky breath. "Unfortunately, it didn't work. After everyone left, Esther forbid me from seeing you unless I had the intention to kill you on that occasion."

Caroline bit her lip and she felt her heartbeat increasing. "Are you gonna kill me?"

"I came here to tell you, I will convince her otherwise. I won't allow your death to be untimely and my family won't touch you. And if they do, they'll suffer extremely dire consequences." Klaus ran his free hand through her hair and down her cheek.

Caroline tried to control her shallow breaths, but was unsuccessful. She had no idea why Klaus was so gentle with her, but dangerous with others. Klaus was possessive and protective of her, but they weren't anything more than friends. His slightest touch almost made Caroline tremble and she was clueless why. They were so close, but deep down, that small part of her felt like this wasn't close enough.

When she felt all of these thoughts circling her mind one consistent thought was the name 'Tyler'.

_Oh Care, what the hell are you doing?_

"You don't have to do that for me, I'll be fine. I know you wouldn't kill me."

"Then what was the nightmare about?" Klaus asked quietly.

Caroline didn't know what to say. Yes, it was a nightmare, but what caused the nightmare? She was scared that Klaus would indeed kill her.

Caroline decided lying would be useless at this point, so she decided to just tell him. "It didn't start out as a nightmare."

"Do any of them, Caroline?"

"I guess not. In my dream, I don't know why, but you left me a note saying to meet up with you. You forgot to tell me where we should meet so I looked all over TVD to find you. I don't know why, but I really wanted to see you. Maybe you left for, I don't know how long, but dream me felt like it was forever. I finally found you after a while and everything was fine, we were reunited. Then you got cold and emotionless," Caroline nearly shivered at the thought, "you shot me in the head because I wasn't useful to you anymore." Caroline's voice cracked more than she wanted it to and tears began to well up in her eyes.

It felt more horrible than it should of for Klaus to tell her that she was useless to him. Tyler told her this a lot of times, but Caroline would usually shoot another insult back at him. When Klaus told her that in a dream, Caroline had to blink back her tears.

Klaus treated her like a pirate treated their treasure, but once his personality broke in the dream, his words and actions were very different than his normal self. She would hate for that dream to turn into reality and lose him for no reason at all.

"Let me promise you this sweetheart," Klaus took her other hand and kissed them, "I will never hurt you, no matter what anyone asks me to do. And you are not just a tool that I decide when useful and not, we're friends are we not?"

Caroline nodded because no words would leave her throat. Why did he have to kiss her? It made her brain turn to mush.

After they sat there in silence, Klaus stood up and walked towards the door. Caroline didn't want him to leave. She wanted to feel the warmth of his embrace like she did in the rainforest.

"Klaus? Can you stay with me tonight?"

Her request must've caught him off guard. Though it wasn't intentional, Caroline's question sounded uncomfortably sexual. Basically, she wasn't wearing anything. Her silk nightgown barely covered her ass and it's neckline was purposefully a low v-neck that revealed one of her many appealing features.

Klaus's eyes lingered on her body, it felt like he was observing every nook and cranny, but all he muttered was a simple "anything." He flicked off the lights and crawled into the bed and right beside her.

Her heart began to pick up the pace and Caroline tried to reduce the obviousness of a hard swallow. Sure they slept with each other on the forest floor, but now in an actual bed, she realized how embarrassing it was.

Caroline lifted the sheets for him to get under and Klaus did. Caroline inched towards him and got close enough to rest her head on his chest. The familiar feelings of his arms surrounded her, his hands stroked and fiddled with her golden curls. She brushed Klaus's hand with her own accidentally, and before Caroline could pull away, Klaus intertwined their fingers.

With her heart banging out of place, Caroline decided she needed to go to sleep before she did anything else embarrassing. "Goodnight Klaus."

"Sweet dreams love," he mumbled back into her hair. Right then, Caroline knew that she didn't have to be afraid of Klaus. He was safe.

* * *

When he found Caroline still asleep after he got out of the guest shower, Klaus rolled his eyes. He wrapped a towel around his waist and stopped in front of the bed where Caroline slept.

While drying his hair, he hesitated on the decision of waking her. In all honesty, she looked like a goddess. Her blonde hair was scattered in different directions and her clear blue eyes were shut, only showing off her long dark eyelashes. Caroline's slightly parted pink lips matched the revealing nightgown she wore. It highlighted the rising and falling of her perfect chest.

The urge to touch her rushed over him and he couldn't help himself. Her beauty was so breath taking, Klaus wondered if the entity before him was even real. Klaus stroked her cheek with the back of his pointer finger and sighed.

Last night, Caroline's unwittingly sensual question had opened his eyes to the extent his determination to keep blood from pooling between his legs. Even though Klaus had succeeded in refraining from his guilty desires, his mind fantasied of all the things he could do to make her cry out in pure bliss.

Like always, Caroline restricted him from the sleep which he was deprived from. Her long legs brushed passed his and she entangled their feet while her delicate hands fondled and explored Klaus's upper body. She pressed herself against his chest and with every inch she moved, he knew her little pink nightgown slid up just as much. Caroline moaned gibberish softly and muttered undecipherable words, but Klaus could've sworn she whispered his name. Perhaps it was just the wolf's infatuation and sexual appeal towards the blonde.

Caroline made so much noise, Klaus thought if she wasn't dreaming, there should be an appointment with a doctor scheduled. If she did dream, Klaus couldn't help but wonder what she dreamt of. If she dreamt of her family, her friends, that disappointment, Tyler Lockwood, or him. Klaus easily brushed the last thought away. If she dreamt of him, Caroline would wake up screaming and traumatized like the night before. Or possibly in pleasure from a very erotic dream.

Caroline slightly shifted underneath his touch and Klaus pulled away, knowing he needed to wake her. She had drained him of all his willpower like a vampire would drain a frail human's blood. None the matter, Klaus knew he had enough strength to awaken sleeping beauty.

There was a strict rule of TVD that prohibited other members to stay overnight at another's dorm. Especially one on one. The only exception was if a couple had been together for a month or more and have been carefully interviewed and had completed the registration required. You were only allowed to have a one night stand sometimes, or for Klaus, at least three a week, but absolutely no members. Sure, most chose to ignore the rule and sneak in and out, but as the children of TVD's supreme leader were on tight leash. He knew this because Kol had been punished one too many times when Esther caught him trying to sneak into that Bennett witch's room. On top of that, Esther had forbidden him from seeing Caroline at all. Klaus really couldn't care less, but if she found that Caroline had stayed in here for the night, saying his mother would go ballistic is an understatement.

"Caroline sweetheart, get up. No one's home but my mother will be soon and it would be quite catastrophic if she found you here with me."

She groaned and sat up after Klaus shook her a few times. One shoulder strap of her nightgown had slid down to her arm and Caroline groggily rubbed her eyes. "Klaus? What time is it?"

"It's already nine am, you overslept an hour or two." Klaus's eyes traveled across her exposed skin for a second. "Elijah should be looking for us since we're supposed to be a hundred and twenty minutes into a tour of the organization. You should've began with your training today, but you won't because Rebekah failed to complete the task given to her and you sleep like the dead."

"Why didn't you try harder to wake me up?" Caroline snapped while running her slender fingers through her hair.

Klaus smirked, "well given your vulnerable sleeping state, what I'm wearing, and your promiscuous choice of clothing, I wouldn't want Kol to walk in and get the wrong idea."

Caroline immediately pulled up her sleeping attire and blushed at the sight of him in nothing but a white towel.

"What is it love? You've seen me more naked than this plenty."

It was true. Klaus didn't attempt to hide his nudity while in the Amazon. He simply got into a pool naked and got out of it naked. Caroline always tried to hide her witness to his bare body, but it was hard to miss the quick glances she made when she thought he wasn't looking.

On the other hand, Klaus couldn't even talk. He would regularly try to sneak a peek at Caroline while she was bathing. Though the blonde was slick and covered her womanhood at all chances she got, Klaus had caughten a glimpse or two of her exquisite _ass_ets once or twice.

"So, should I shower before I change or just change. Oh god, I don't have any clothes, Rebekah took them out for dry cleaning last night and I'm not with Bonnie or Elena or Katherine."

"I'd tell you to steal Rebekah's clothes, but she recently installed a touch identification lock to keep pesky fools like me and Kol out. But do not get your panties in a twist, I'll lend you mine."

"I can't wear your clothes," Caroline stood up and rubbed her arm sheepishly, "people might talk and if your mom found out-"

"My mother will be dealt with today, her horrid assumptions about you will be put to shame by nightfall. I thought I told you I would protect you, Caroline. Don't let me label you forgetful." Caroline bit back the smile that appeared on her lips and he beckoned for her to follow him into his room.

He felt Caroline's eyes on him. Probably looking at his messy damp hair and the toned back that belonged to him. Klaus simpered, "do you want me to take off the towel as well love? I'm certain the sight will please you even more."

"Can you not be quiet for once Klaus?" Caroline huffed.

Klaus obeyed her orders and walked into his bedroom then straight to his walk in closet. "So which one of my henleys have the honour to be worn by you, sweetheart?"

"They all look the exact same."

"What are you talking about? Can you not see the very different shades of grey and black Caroline? It's a very artistically subtle colour sequence." Caroline passed him harshly, pushing his shoulder. "Someone's moody, I thought you'd be more of a morning person once you were out of that dingy forest and on an actual bed, I guess I was wrong."

Up on her toes, she scoffed and reached for a lighter gray henley. "I am a morning person, as long as I'm _spending_ it with the right person."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you're even more bipolar than I am," Klaus walked up to her and carressed Caroline's shoulder. As she turned around at the sudden contact, her eyes watched his movements. She slightly shuddered under his touch and he wondered how to would feel to mark her as his right there.

Klaus leaned over Caroline's shoulder and to her ear. Oh how he would love to tease and nibble at her ear making her squirm under his touch. "Wasn't it you who asked me to stay with you so desperately last night?"

"I wasn't thinking straight," Caroline whispered, "I was scared and overwhelmed."

"Yet you still requested for my attendance even though I was the one who haunted you in your nightmares."

"I-I didn't- That wasn't you Klaus, I knew it wasn't. I just didn't want to be alone."

"So you called for a monster? The big bad wolf, the being that lesser men fear?" Klaus hummed, amused at her answer.

"You're not a monster, I was just scared at what Esther said. It got in my head, but I was never really scared of you. I know that you won't just kill me, I mean, I haven't made you that mad. Have I?" Even though Caroline was making a joke, her voice was serious and tender as she met his eyes.

Klaus could feel her breaths against his nose. "Never, sweetheart. I don't think I have the capacity to ever hurt someone as incredible as you Caroline."

Before Caroline could answer, Klaus heard his phone ring. She snapped back into reality and shrugged his hand off her shoulder. "Go answer that, I'll be in the bathroom trying to make this into a super cute henley minidress." Caroline walked past him and out of his room.

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her and he picked up his phone from the dresser. "Hello Elijah. What do you need from me?"

"Where are you?" The older brother asked, "I have been searching for you and you are nowhere to be found."

"I'll be out there soon, do not worry yourself brother."

"You're not even out? Caroline is behind on everything, get out here and tour her before she falls back even further." Elijah ordered.

They bickered back and forth for a few minutes over nonsense, until Elijah actually said something of use to him. "I spoke with mother earlier today and I seemed to be shaving off the edge of her hatred for the young woman, she told me to tell you to meet her later in the day and discuss about matters further."

"Thank you brother," Klaus went back into his closet, searching for the day's proper attire, "always looking out for me."

"Always and forever. Now I will spot you out here in no less than ten minutes." Elijah hung up and Klaus got dressed. He went out looking for Caroline and found her still in the bathroom.

"Caroline, it doesn't take an century to put on a shirt."

"I'm not just putting on a shirt! I have to brush my hair, and curl it and wash up and way more!" Caroline yelled and Klaus rolled his eyes. "I'm lucky I found some of Rebekah's things still in her bathroom, but it might take some time to figure out. I'll be out in five minutes, just have a little patience."

After what seemed like the longest five minutes of his life, Caroline uncomfortably left the bathroom while pulling down his henley. She looked outstandingly sexy. To make his shirt longer, Caroline had to pull it down which gave him a great view of her lovely bosom. It hugged her in all the right placed and barely made it over her mid thighs.

"I look like a whore," Caroline grumbled.

"Nonsense, you look amazing and we're matching." Klaus opened the guest room door for her and they maneuvered their way out of the house.

"Let's just hurry so I can go home and get some clothes."

"That's the least of my worries, love. Elijah is afraid you're falling behind and Esther is out to get you. Since you've already seen all of the living areas and briefly, the training grounds, we'll speed through this tedious tour."

Klaus almost jogged to the huge building behind the training grounds and Caroline struggled to keep up. When they finally got there, Caroline was already out of breath. "Are you alright?" Klaus asked softly.

She nodded, "everything is just so far away from each other here and it's hard to speed walk when I'm constantly trying to pull down your shirt."

Klaus opened the glass door of the twenty-five storey building and followed her in. There had to be around two hundred people scrambling around the first floor, picking up files and papers, impatiently waiting at the elevators, lining up behind the three front counters. It was crazy.

"As you can see, this part of the building is jam packed and it's only the lobby. One of the reasons why I hate going to this bloody building."

"One?"

"Oh there are many others. Now follow me, we have to squeeze our way into one of the elevators." Klaus pushed through ignorant agents to finally get to the fourth elevator. It opened for them just in time. "After you, love."

Caroline squeezed past him and into the elevator. Once Klaus got in he pressed the button for the fifth floor, making the elevator doors close on many people immediately. "Hey that wasn't nice," Caroline scolded, "a lot of people could still fit in here."

Klaus knew very well that there were only six people in the spacious place, but he wanted the best for Caroline. Especially since he already heard a whisper about Caroline from one of the bastards in the corner opposite from them.

Making sure that the blonde was the only one that could hear him while _he_ whispered, Klaus leaned towards her ear and quieted his voice. "If there were twelve or even ten people in here, who knows what someone could do to you. They could touch you and it would be quite a spectacular ride if I couldn't find the culprit."

He slipped his hand around her waist to trace circles on her back. Warningly, he eyed the four other males in the elevator. Klaus knew they easily recognized him as a Mikaelson and 'The Wolf' for that matter. It was nice to to see them writhe under the gaze that stated what Klaus claimed as his own, even though Caroline _wasn't_ his.

He watched them tense and dart their eyes in a whole different direction as his possessive and protective glare frightened them. An almost sinister smirked appeared on his face. _They know their place. Good._

"I would have to butcher everyone of them for someone's indiscretions. Not exactly pleasant, but completely necessary for you, love. So in a way, perhaps I just spared a dozen people's life without them knowing." Klaus chuckled when he saw her roll her eyes, "I should have a celebratory gathering thrown in my honour for my heroism."

"I doubt that would happen, you're so paranoid." Caroline smiled and put a finger to his chest, "but thanks anyways."

The dinging of an elevator signaled the opening of the doors. "This way love." Klaus shot a final look at the men behind him as they walked out. "Here is one of most frightening wards of this building. This is where the witches practice their treacherous torture techniques and peculiar healing remedies."

"Witches?"

"That's what I call them because I can never figure out how the ways they solve their conundrums, so I come to the conclusion they might as well be practicing something unexplainable such as magic." Klaus unlocked a door with his hand print and walked into a narrow hallway. "There's an observation portion on each floor, I'll take you to this one."

Once the two emerged from the small hallway, Caroline slightly gasped. She hurried to the one-sided glass panels that separated her from the busy bodies. Her hands were pressed against the glass and Caroline snapped her head back at Klaus who was leaning on the mouth of the hallway. "What are they doing?"

"Who knows? Ask Bonnie Bennett if you're that interested."

"Bonnie's a witch?"

"The very best," Klaus folded his hands behind his back and came up behind her. He watched them from behind the glass, working on things Klaus couldn't imagine how to work.

"She incharge of all of this lot and Bennett's only been here for a year. You might as well turn yourself in if you have her looking for you. She can track people with something as little as DNA and no one knows how. If I didn't have the devil on speed dial, I'd suggest she was his sister. Every mission Bonnie Bennett goes on, she leaves the word 'incendia' engraved somewhere, which is Latin for fire. Then without a trace, she lights all the evidence on fire and the funny thing is, it stays burning until authorities or our rivals find it. That Bennett witch is one of the most terrifying women I've met and I absolutely fancy her for it."

"Do witches go on missions and assassinate people too?" Caroline queried.

"They're not necessarily up on the front lines at all tones, but they provide lots of useful information for missions and such. They go on some solo missions if they're tracking someone or something, but if they actually intend to engage with the enemy or suspect, they would go with an assassin or two."

"Can I be a witch?"

Klaus sighed, he was well aware of Caroline's feelings towards becoming an assassin regardless of her lack of conversation about the topic. He didn't blame for despising her mandatory transition into a killer. "No, you cannot. You're not fit for the job love. If you were, Elijah would've told me and you'd be on the other side of this glass." Klaus saw her sigh in disappointment, but he guessed she already knew the answer to her question. "But I will do all I can to lighten the load."

Caroline nodded, "back catcher right?"

"Yes."

"Do I really have to do all this? I mean, I don't want to be an assassin, I don't think I'd even go along with the rest of my friends when they were recruited," Caroline muttered and she leaned her face against his chest. "I didn't ask for this, I don't want this, but it's either this, die, or live with severe brain problems for the rest of my life."

Klaus ran his fingers through her golden locks. He didn't recall telling her she would get permanent brain damage if she wanted to leave. "Who did you hear that from, love?"

"Kol," Caroline sighed as he wrapped his arms around her, "for once he sounded like he wasn't joking."

"When did you and Kol start talking?" Though the question hinted otherwise, Klaus was not jealous. Just curious on the topic of how Caroline and his cocky baby brother had gotten close enough to talk about outcomes of his mother's torture.

"We don't talk really. Rebekah called to tell him about the dinner while we went dress shopping with Katherine. While they were one the phone, he told Rebekah he wanted to talk to me so we did. He warned me about Esther. Kol told me that he didn't know what techniques Esther was planning to use to get into my head, but if she tried to get me to give into my desire to abandon everything here, forget about this place and go home, it wouldn't be as easy as she would make it sound. Apparently, Kol has seen her do this to lots of hostages from front row seats and he said he would hate to watch Esther destroy my brain."

Klaus could laugh if he wasn't royally pissed off. Kol hated being his mother's little boy ever since Finn ran off. Good for him. "Elijah has taken off her edge, I'll deal with her later."

Caroline nodded into his chest and gently fiddled with his necklaces, "thanks. I know I rather not be here, training to kill people, but I know that at least this way I have a chance of finding Tyler. I also met Rebekah, Kol and was reunited with Katherine because of this place. It can't be that bad if it gave me two decent friends, right?"

Klaus couldn't care less about Caroline's chatter about Tyler Lockwood. She considered Kol a friend now? She knew him as well as she knew Elijah. And what about Klaus? TVD brought them together too, except it was on a mission. It was still the same thing and Caroline should easily see that, or was he just no longer considered a friend?

"I also saw Kol at like two am in the morning when I went to go grab a drink of water."

Klaus gave her a confused look. He was positive he stayed up all night because of Caroline. When did she go to get a drink?

"You don't remember? I got up and you asked me if I was okay and if I had another nightmare. I told you I was thirsty and I just needed some water. I said I was sorry for waking you, you looked really peaceful. Remember?"

Klaus shook his head and figured he must've fallen half asleep for an hour or two out of the long night, "why did you meet Kol?"

"He was sneaking vodka into Jeremy's room or something like that. I was kind of lost and I couldn't find your kitchen. Kol was really sweet and he lead me there, got me some water, talked for a bit and then took me back to my room." Klaus could see her cheeks redden and he narrowed his eyes. "He was really immature and annoying when he found you in the bed."

Perhaps Klaus was a little more jealous than curious and he found himself tightening his grasp on her a little. She didn't seem to notice as she continued to rub her thumb in vertical movements over on of the pendants that hung from his neck.

Elijah and Klaus had their fair share of quarrels over a woman, but he never squabbled with Kol. Kol's taste in women was shallow, trashy and hungry for sex and Klaus didn't exactly find that appealing. He prefered calm women who respected themselves, the ones who didn't wear their lust instead of underwear.

Even though Kol will try to charm every female he comes across, he would respect all of Klaus's girlfriends. The fact that Klaus didn't fancy relationships might of helped the situation. Regardless, Kol kept his distance for the couple relationships Klaus was a part of. Of course he threw himself at all of Klaus's one night stands, but once the night was over, they were no longer his concern and he was always more than happy to lend Kol his used women. That's why the two mischievous brothers hadn't exactly had problems over a partner.

"Now I won't hear the end of it, all thanks to your wishes, Caroline. There's now a possibility of Kol blabbering unreliable information to Rebekah. My dear sister will tell her only friend, Katerina. Katerina will tell Elijah and find away to tell the Salvatore brothers and once those two know, everyone knows."

"You could've just said no," Caroline pointed out before meeting his eyes.

"I only agreed to spend the night because nobody was home. Elijah had already left for Katerina's, Kol gone off to Jeremy's place as well, I caught Rebekah leaving apparently for the dry cleaners when I went upstairs to go to bed." The last part of his statement was a lie, Klaus went up to apologize, but that was unnecessary information for Caroline to know. "Nobody at home means no eyes to see and no ears to listen."

"Ears to listen? What, did you think I was going to ask you to do something else?"

Klaus shrugged, "your unpredictability is off the charts, love. For all I know, you could try to run straight through this window to find your Bennett friend. Your predictability levels have changed drastically since I first met you."

"Just because my predictability has changed for you, doesn't mean my dignity hasn't."

Klaus took her wrist and put her hand on his heart, "ouch, that hurt."

Caroline rolled her bright blue eyes, "how much should I bet that there's nothing underneath that skin and bone and muscle?"

"How much should I bet that your hair is so blonde it distracts from the hollowness of that pretty little head of yours?"

"Klaus-"

"Shh, darling. Don't ruin the moment," Klaus chuckled and for a second there, everything seemed perfect.


	9. Chapter 9

Klaus decided to take Caroline down the stairs instead of the elevator like a normal person after the tour. He said it was safer for her, but she didn't think it made any sense because even walking down the stairs, Caroline could see guys giving her ass googly eyes.

"Klaus, let's just take the elevator. I'll be doing more than enough exercise lifting boxes of my stuff from my house."

A half confused, half amused expression washed over his face, "you don't go to collage Caroline?"

"I did," Caroline tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I graduated early with Elena and Bonnie as a drama major. I just moved back in with my mom so I could spend more time with her and help her out with events around Mystic Falls."

"You're close to your mother then?"

"We weren't always this close. After being such a bitch in high school, I try to spend as much time with her as I can now. I didn't even know how much stress I was giving her until Damon pointed it out to me. One of the few reasons I can stand him when everyone else hates him."

"Damon Salvatore told you you were being a pain in the arse to your mum? I'm not sure I can comprehend how amusing Mystic Falls sounds. How and why did the fun brother tell you to hold the attitude?"

"In Mystic Falls, we have this council that basically runs the town or whatever. When Damon and Stefan moved back here, Damon got a spot in the council and he and my mom got super close, like best friends."

Klaus raised an eyebrow and Caroline guessed he opened his mouth to say some really inappropriate remark, but she glared at him before it could leave his lips. "Do _not_. It was most definitely _not_ like that, so shut up. Please and _thank_ _you_."

"I didn't say anything," Klaus smiled and she rolled her eyes.

"Anyways, my mom and I used to fight and argue tons and it wasn't good for her at all. So when Damon found out I was what was stressing my mom out, he told me to knock it off. It was kind of annoying, but I guess it was eye opening and stuff. Damon also told my mom to try to understand me more so it wasn't like biased or anything. He was just looking out for us."

"Looking out for you?"

"As a friend of my mother's and someone I used to be close with. We weren't exactly in the hating stage, we were past that. Not exactly best of friends, but we had mutual friends so we didn't have a choice but to hang out with each other."

"The hating stage? What do you mean?" Klaus asked while leading her to the next flight of stairs.

"Of our break up," Caroline sighed when she heard Klaus's footsteps slowly stop.

_God, I should've just lied. Now I have to explain everything to Klaus and make it as _not_ weird as possible._

"Come on, I know I dated _that_, but you don't have to make it more embarrassing than it already is."

"You and Damon were in a romantic relationship? When did that occur?"

"Pretty sure at the beginning of like grade eleven," Caroline turned around and when she realized Klaus wasn't going to catch up with her, she walked back to him and saw him biting back a laugh. "Not my proudest moments... Can you at least _try_ to hide your lack of respect?"

"No," Klaus snickered when they began to head towards the stairs again. "Why aren't the two of you still together? I mean pretty cheerleading perfectionist in high school and dare devillish bad boy that's slightly older? Seems like a match made in hell."

_How does_ _Klaus_ _know that I was_ _a_ _cheerleader or a perfectionist? I don't think I told him that I was a cheerleader back in high school. The perfectionist thing he could've figured out himself, so that's not _that_ weird. Not that I am a perfectionist, because I'm _not_. Just organized._

"Well like you said, match made in hell. It's embarrassing to even think about it."

"What was wrong with it?"

"Damon and I weren't..." Caroline searched for the word to call her toxic relationship apart from the sex part of it, which was most of it, with the dark haired Salvatore. "Compatible. At all. Like you said, match made in hell. We broke up not long after we got together."

"Not compatible?" Klaus's became more serious as he quieted his voice. "Did he hurt you too, love?"

"No, no, nothing like that," Caroline sighed, "nothing physical. Emotional, maybe, but I'm way over it. When I found out he was just using me to make Elena jealous, it was kind of hard." Caroline let out a small laugh at her younger self's stupidity. She clicked her tongue before talking again. "It hurt, bad."

There was a small pause in there conversation, all she could here were her and Klaus's synchronized footsteps. "Did you love him," he finally asked, "Damon?"

"Never romatically, I couldn't. I didn't think anyone could love him until Elena came along. As a friend, things are different, as a lifelong partner, that's Elena's job." Caroline gave Klaus a questioning look. "Why are you so interested in me and Damon? Honestly, it was barely long enough to even be considered a relationship. The only time I think about it, is when Stefan pulls the obliged never have I ever had sex with Damon Salvatore."

"It's not Damon I'm interested in, it's you love. I want to learn more about you and your past indiscretions," Klaus smiled.

"Indiscretions? Seriously?"

"Anything about you will do really, but your embarrassing actions do entertain me greatly."

"Are you serious? Why?"

"I fancy you," Klaus replied simply.

Caroline's heart started to beat faster.

_He fancies me? Isn't fancy like British slang for like? I'm not sure. So Klaus actually likes me, like has feelings for me. Sure Klaus calls me pretty and is really overprotective of me and is super and overly touchy, but I thought that was just because he liked my body. _

Caroline took a deep breath, but made sure it was only in her head so Klaus wouldn't see her apprehension, and reminded herself to snap out of it.

_Caroline, don't be overconfident, pace yourself. He still wants you because you're incredibly good looking. Klaus is probably just saying that in his incredibly sexy accent to make you fall head over heels into his trap._

_Even if Klaus does like you, that changes nothing. You and Tyler are going to find each other again and you won't think twice about Klaus. Or once, whatever, you get the point._

She didn't say anything after he told her he fancied her. Caroline just pressed her lips together and searched his eyes for anything but the sincerity she saw.

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her reaction, "is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes," Caroline blurted up. She didn't know why her respond to his question was so sharp. Her defences were already building up.

"Why? You're beautiful," He started.

Of course, _beautiful_. It wasn't like when Klaus called her that her heart didn't skip a beat or she didn't shiver when he pressed his lips to her ear and called her gorgeous, but if he really did have feelings for her, Klaus shouldn't just call her pretty. She already knew that much.

"You're strong, you're full of light." Klaus continued and Caroline almost shushed her heart out loud. "I enjoy you."

Caroline's mind blanked on all the things she could say to that. Klaus just confessed his feelings towards her without a second thought. It would seem outrageous if it was any other person saying these things, but Klaus made it look like he had done it at least a hundred times before as the almost coaxing words rolled off his tongue.

"Well, you already know I'm spoken for. By Tyler."

"I'm well aware of your feelings towards him, but I also notice how you respond to me. Your statements might be derogatory and hostile at times, but I know it's just to cover up the way your body reacts to my presence," Klaus lowered his voice as someone walked past the two of them. "Sometimes in a more sexual manner than others."

"You're delusional, Klaus," Caroline scoffed as the colour of her face transitioned into an embarrassing red. He had no idea what he was talking about. Her body, reacting to his? That part was a _little_ true, but _sexually_? That's a _stretch_, a _really_ _far_ _stretch_.

"Your ego is clouding your sense of inspection. Might want to get that checked out before Esther gets mad at you for ruining the model assassin in you." Klaus hummed in reply and Caroline scoffed again, "and to go as far as sexually? God, you're thirstier than I thought."

"Judging from your reaction," Klaus put on a sarcarstically confused face, "I'm suspecting you're entirely oblivious to what you do to me while you're asleep."

_What?_ Caroline asked herself. _What she did when she was asleep?_

"What are you talking about? I'm a peaceful sleeper, one of the things about me that Tyler likes." That was a blatant lie and Caroline knew that Klaus could see right through it when he raised his eyebrows. "Fine, whatever. By all means, complain to me about having to sleep beside a turbulent plane, but that has nothing to do with your false accusations about _me_ being attracted to _you_."

"Oh, but it certainly does."

Why couldn't he just straight up tell her, Klaus's games weren't fun no matter how much the entertained him. "Then why don't you tell me how?"

"I'll leave you to battle with the possibilities of what you could be doing in your unconscious, love."

An uncharacteristic growl erupted from her throat. If he wasn't going to tell her anything, why the hell did he bring it up? Klaus got under way Caroline's skin more than he should. He got there because of how he acted, how he carried himself, how he treated _her_.

Caroline hated this because Mr. Annoyingly-Perfect thought that her heart picked up the pace and her breathing got shallower because she liked him, when in reality Caroline's brain made it very clear that those things were only happening because she was still a little afraid.

Suddenly, Caroline was standing in front of Klaus, blocking his way. The least he could do was hear her opinion on how he acted after telling her that she wanted to fuck him. After Caroline's actions, Klaus stopped walking when there was about three feet between them and she took a deep breath before starting. "Klaus, you're such a-"

Klaus slowly came towards her and butterflies were let loose in her stomach. "Don't stop on my behalf, such a what, love?"

Quickly, she regained her composure, "a dick. You're a fucking dick Klaus and the worst thing is, is that you don't know it. Or you just choose not to acknowledge it."

Klaus smiled and leaned towards her ear, "i'm a dick because I told you I fancied you sweetheart?"

"Don't sweetheart me. And yes. I mean no." Caroline corrected herself. Why was she mad at him again? This was so confusing. "Just why would you tell me that when you know that I love Tyler? You're causing problems for yourself, and Tyler and _me_."

"Why would I care about causing problems for Tyler? He's brought nothing but problems for me and my family. I would more than love to make him bang and shout from behind the bars of his cell when he sees me and you together as friends. Imagine the possibilities if we raise the bar to lovers," Klaus joked.

That was true, Klaus didn't care about what Tyler felt if it was anything other than pain. "You're still causing problems for yourself. If Tyler found out you were hitting on me, I don't know what he would do. You're this focused on finding him and locking him up because of all the problems he's caused for your family, I'm sure he could stir up some more trouble."

"Not if he's behind bars, or I sever all his limbs until he's a writhing mess of blood and organs. I'm positive, we'll be fine." Caroline was about to answer his comment, but Klaus's fingers brushed against hers which just made her slightly gasp. "And what about you? Well, I couldn't possibly be causing problems for you unless you are feeling conflicted. Are you?"

"No," Caroline shot back.

His thumb rubbed circles on the outline of vein on her wrist, "I can feel your heart beating faster than normal."

"And how do you know my normal heart rate isn't just fast?"

Klaus looked into her eyes and smirked, "I'll let you off the hook for now, but you can't deny you don't feel something between us Caroline."

"I sure can, because whatever you feel, I don't Klaus. God, stop pushing yourself on to me." Klaus gave her a quick eye roll and Caroline felt a smile of her own trying to spread on her lips.

_Can he be anymore annoying?_

Klaus didn't have to make her laugh when she was obviously mad. "Stop."

As he was about to answer, Caroline felt someone impact her from behind. She let out a surprised yelp while tripping forwards, almost falling, but grabbing onto Klaus's sturdy shoulders to stabilize herself. His strong hands were on her waist to help steady her and Caroline could almost count every single nerve his hand was in contact with.

"Are you alright?" Klaus asked in a quiet tone. Caroline lifted her head to nod in reply, still confused and off balance. His eyes stayed on hers as she started to stand up, Caroline watched his blue green eyes boring into hers, unable to look away.

Feeling one of her knees accidentally brush across Klaus's crotch made her eyes immediately snap down to look at what she had done. A small groan left Klaus's lips and she quickly backed away from him. Caroline blushed at the foreign sound and thought about apologizing, but decided it would be awkward after she just got off on him. So instead, she turned her attention to the idiot that pushed her into the situation. Literally.

Caroline whipped around to find a blonde lady that was a little shorter than her holding a drink in one hand and some files in the other. "What the hell was that?!" Caroline asked, "can you not see where you're going? Are you drunk?"

The lady didn't seem to care about anything Caroline was saying, her eyes were focused on the man she pushed her into. "Klaus?"

"Cami," Klaus smiled, "what a pleasant surprise."

The girl, Cami, according to Klaus, walked right past her and gave Klaus a hug.

She scoffed at them, _was that Cami girl trying start something already?_ _Why was she hugging Klaus? He didn't ask for her to go suffocate him with a bear hug._

"I never thought I'd see you again."

"I agree. Why in the world are you here?" Klaus put a hand on her face and Caroline felt herself fuming.

_Were they completely ignoring her presence? _

"And I thought I told you to stay in New Orleans with Marcel and the others so they could protect you."

"Seriously Klaus? Can fill me in on why the hell this bitch shoved me and didn't apologize but ran over to you? And why the hell are talking about New Orleans?"

"Caroline, this is Camille. One of the very few woman I've actually taken interest in. When I had a long-term mission in New Orleans, I met her. We were in a relationship until I completed my mission, then I had to leave. She was never part of the TVD organization we have in New Orleans because I told her not to, Cami might've gotten hurt. It was also partly because I didn't want her to track me down," Klaus turned to Camille, "so I don't know how you got here."

"I realized I didn't take orders from you," Camille sighed. "I joined TVD and I'm an assassin now, but I had no idea you were here. I came because Marcel needed me to give some stuff to Esther and Silas."

"Why would you do that? You could've died-"

"-but I found you instead." Camille whispered and brought his forehead down to hers.

Caroline couldn't believe her ears and eyes. _They're worse than those disgustingly cringey couples in sappy teen romance films. On top of that, they're basically having sex right in front of me. Please take your PDA elsewhere. And Klaus said they broke up, hasn't he moved on? Klaus told me he liked me, is it because I might act like her?_

"Klaus," Caroline said and he turned away from his ex to look at her, "thanks for the tour. Don't worry about the moving situation or catching me up by finding who I'm training with. I'm sure Rebekah or Kol aren't too infatuated with their exes to help me with that."

"Love-"

"No, it's fine, I didn't want to pack up my things with you anyways and after today, I rather spend my time with anyone else. I'll make sure to fill Elijah in on your whereabouts." Caroline spun around on her heels and walked towards the elevator. She was tired of taking stairs and tired of the person who took them with her.

. . .

"And then she just ran into Klaus's arms. She didn't even fucking apologize for literally shoving me into him. And he let her! He let his _ex _give him a bear hug. Seriously? Isn't that a little weird, even if you broke up because of long distance?" Caroline shouted while harshly taping the last box full of her things from her mom's house.

After storming into the elevator, leaving Klaus and Camille, Caroline went straight to looking for Elijah. Unfortunately, she interrupted him and Katherine while they were starting a something. Fortunately for her, they were only starting. Elijah quickly put on his shirt, but Katherine remained in her underwear scolding her.

When they went outside of her room to talk, Elijah respectfully asked why she wasn't with his younger brother. All Caroline told him was that Klaus was on the second floor of that tall building with an old friend and that she decided to leave them alone to catch up. Caroline asked him if Bonnie and Elena were free to help her pack up somethings from her mom's so she could officially move into Katherine's room because Elijah seemed to know everything about everything. He didn't have a problem with it so she, Elena and Bonnie took the day off.

Driving to Mystic Falls took way shorter than Caroline expected. On the way, Bonnie ranted to her and Elena about how Jeremy and Kol crashed her room that morning while she was getting cozy in lingerie. Apparently, they wanted her to play a new video game. Caroline and Elena could feel Bonnie's irritation radiating off of her while she told them her horror story and it was hard to _not_ laugh.

Not matter how interesting and hilarious Bonnie's story was, Caroline still couldn't take her mind off of her pointless argument with Klaus. Not even argument, just her yelling at him for no reason. Well, maybe for a reason, the reason being Klaus trying to cause problems between her and Tyler and Tyler wasn't even there. Still, it shouldn't have been that big of a deal. Of course, unless she did feel something, unless Klaus was _right_. Which he wasn't, because she loved Tyler with all her heart and no sexy British bad boy was going to change that.

The three of them got to Caroline's house and met her mom. She and Caroline caught up for a few hours or so before Liz had to go do some sheriff work. Since then, she changed into more appropriate clothes and they had been cleaning and packing up the things she needed. Bonnie and Elena knew something was on Caroline's mind and were on her back until finally she gave in. Once she started talking, she couldn't stop.

"Like, I couldn't believe it!" Caroline scoffed while passing the cardboard box she taped shut to Elena who stacked it on a bigger box. "She was basically eye fucking him right in front of me! I wonder when he left her in New Orleans. If it was as long as she made it seem, she couldn't still be interested in him. Bonnie when you got to TVD, was Klaus in New Orleans?"

"Wait Bonnie," Elena stopped Bonnie before she could say anything and paused to eat a piece of kettle corn, "you're not telling us something Care. Did they make out in front of you or something?"

Caroline opened her mouth to say yes, but instead sighed loudly while falling back on the couch beside Bonnie. It would be pointless to lie to Elena, she'd find out sooner or later. "No, they didn't."

"Then what happened, Care?" Bonnie asked while scooching over so Caroline could make space for Elena to sit.

The only reason Caroline didn't want to tell them about Klaus 'fancying' her was because of her reaction to it. What would she do if Elena and Bonnie told everyone that she liked Klaus because of it? That would be a complete disaster. At the same time, Caroline couldn't keep things from them. They were her best friends and if they found out some other way, then they might get the very wrong idea.

Caroline took another big sigh, then she started talking. "Before Camille got there, I got mad at Klaus because he told me he feels something for me. Like more than wanting to have sex with me. It threw me off guard and in the heat of the moment, I went off on him. I think I did it because he wants to create problems between me and Tyler. Not to hurt me, but to hurt him, and I just got so angry."

Bonnie raised an eyebrow and grinned, "so Klaus actually likes you? You're one in a million."

Caroline huffed and crossed her arms, "seriously? Can you try not to make me feel stupid, Miss Sarcasm?"

"What? I wasn't, I swear, okay? Listen, I've been here for a while and I know from our unwanted conversations, Klaus doesn't believe slash like the concept of 'dating'. He takes sluts in, fucks them, then tells them to leave in the morning."

Caroline almost rolled her eyes. Klaus was so-

"One time, Klaus and I were on a mediocre mission, right? We were supposed to watch these surveillance cameras for our target or whatever and Klaus started to talk to me about Kol's interest in me," Bonnie started. "Then as a joke I said something along the lines of maybe you should date me to tell him to back off. Klaus told me that being in a relationship isn't something he's interested in doing. His first girlfriend was a spy from TOS."

"TOS?" Caroline asked.

"The Other Side or our rivals. Her name was Tatia, he and Elijah were both in love with her and they'd constantly fight over her. Tatia finally chose to be with Klaus after some months of the feuding. They started dating and one night he caught her with Elijah and that was the first time Klaus got his heart broken. Then Esther and Silas found out that she was a spy and Esther murdered her while he attempted to break down the door with Elijah."

That was why Klaus was so hellbent over keeping her safe from Esther. It was because she had already taken someone away from him before. Was he afraid to lose her just as much as she was afraid to lose him?

"The only other person he dated was a bartender in New Orleans, Camille from what you're telling us. He met her when he went on a mission for a little less than a year and a half, but Klaus knew that she would die if she got involved. So he left and forgot about her, until now."

"To my understanding, from you Care and you Bon, Klaus likes you, but he can't date you. Camille is his ex that he left to protect and now she's back and he's getting cozy with her right after yelled at him." Elena said slowly. "I personally don't see a problem if you still want to be with that asshole Tyler."

"He's not an asshole," Caroline lied.

Right now, Caroline had no idea if she despised Tyler or if she was so head over heels for that she might propose to him herself. Maybe the head over heels part was a little exaggerated and it was more of the feeling of missing him. The blonde didn't think she'd been more confused than this in her entire life, but what she was sure of was that if anyone found out about Tyler hurting and raping her, he'd be _hanged_.

"The only problem that matters is Klaus trying to ruin me and my boyfriend's relationship. Camille is just annoying. Bonnie, did Klaus mention to say when he went to New Orleans?"

"No, he didn't. I hope you're not obsessed with him, Care. Stalker is not a good look on you," Bonnie and Elena giggled as Caroline crossed her arms and scoffed.

"I'm not obsessed with him, I just want to know why he was so comfortable and interested in his ex girlfriend that he abruptly ended his relationship with. Like, after they were being all lovey dovey, I said I was leaving. When I was in the process of doing so, Klaus didn't even slightly object me leaving. He barely acknowledged me."

Elena shrugged, "are you sure Klaus wasn't just mad or annoyed with you because you blew up at him for saying he liked you?"

Caroline stood up with her arms outstretched above her head. "You see, Klaus doesn't get mad at me or at least he hasn't gotten mad at me a lot. Yesterday, I went to meet Klaus's family, his mom in particular."

"Wow, meeting his parent already? Care, you're on a roll." Bonnie teased while shoving some more popcorn in her mouth.

"Did you have to meet that bitch, Rebekah?" Caroline nodded slowly. So the feelings between Rebekah and Elena are mutual. "I feel bad for you."

"She's not that bad," Caroline said in attempt to stick up for her friend, "I kind of like her. Rebekah is nice to me and helped me figure stuff out about this place. She even bought me the dress I wore to last night's dinner and nice pink lingerie."

Caroline smiled as she remembered when Katherine picked out a nice underwear set for a night with Klaus as a joke. Rebekah took it very seriously and purchased it immediately with a swipe of her card. After she bought it, Rebekah made Caroline swear to never wear it with Tyler or she'd rip her throat out.

"Anyways, Esther really didn't like me and told Klaus that the next time he saw me, he's have to kill me. I understand now why Klaus got so mad, because Esther already took Tatia away from him and I guess he didn't want to lose me either." Realizing her way too soft tone, Caroline cleared her throat. "Anyways, Klaus was _angry_. I mean _angry_. It was almost as if I could feel his energy. Klaus felt _dangerous_, like he was going to snap his mother's neck dangerous. I've never experienced that with him."

"If he's not angry," Elena stood up and pulled Bonnie off of the chair as well, "then you have to talk to him yourself, Care."

"I agree," Bonnie chimed in.

"I don't feel like ever even _looking_ at him again, let's just get these boxes and suitcases my the car. It's already a quarter to seven and Elijah is on my back because I'm behind in training. Hell, I don't even know who my trainer is. I'm so disorganized," she sighed.

"Well then," Elena took a medium sized box into her arms, "let's load these babies into the minivan and get back to good ol' TVD to help you unpack, start your training and avoid your new not so secret admirer."

* * *

_Why isn't she back yet? She left not to long after noon. It's already ten pm. Where could she be? _Klaus thought to himself while looking at the time on his phone.

Caroline hadn't returned to TVD since she left him and Camille to catch up in a fit of rage. Klaus wanted to stop Caroline from leaving and ask why the blonde was making a spectacle over him telling her that he fancied her, but found his attention drawn to the woman that the arms around his neck belonged to.

Klaus still was yet to be informed about the real reason behind Camille's arrival. The branch in New Orleans barely remained in contact with them, let alone send an agent here. There was something going on.

After Caroline stormed into the elevator, his attention snapped back to Camille as her hands traveled up to his hair and began to massage his head through his dirty blond locks. Annoyed with her lies and actions, Klaus quickly shut down her moves to try to pry out the real reason she came to Virginia.

The thought of that now that Caroline was gone, Camille might supply him some useful information without thinking of revealing too much to an obviously new agent, withered away once Klaus found out his old mate from New Orleans wouldn't say anything apart from the lies that she started out with. It was so frustrating, Klaus thought he might just give Marcel a call.

It was irritating to see right through Camille's lies especially after Klaus got his hopes up and chose to believe she strayed from the truth because of Caroline Forbes. It was easy to tell she was a new comer from her unbalanced stance and unreasoned temper. New comers did not get to hear any secrets.

Klaus gave Camille a tour of the Virginian model of TVD when he got tired of failing to extract information from her. She was impressed by the very least. Camille caught him up with some current events from TVD, New Orleans. The title of head of the 'witch' ward was bestowed upon Davina Claire recently. Although she was young, she was a very promising agent. Her skills were almost outstanding and Camille thought that one day, Davina could exceed _the_ Bonnie Bennett. Klaus chuckled at Camille's far fetched statement. Bonnie Bennett had surpassed every assassin or 'witch' in her bloodline. No one, let alone a _teenager,_ could never come close to her.

Marcel Gerard could now proudly call Eva Sinclair his fiancée. Klaus always thought she was more than a little off her rocker, positive she was insane, and Marcel agreed to date her only because her insanity was highly contagious. As his mentor and best friend, Klaus thought it necessary to remind him of that every second of everyday. Now the two were getting married. Time sure had gone fast.

It would be a lie if Klaus said he didn't miss the French Quarter. He hadn't visited there since his last mission which was two years ago. It was refreshing to see Camille again, apart from and complaints about his rainforest companion.

After the tour, Klaus dropped her off at his mother's office where she would give her the files, but he overheard something about a conference call with Silas. It seemed a little more than suspicious.

Klaus ran into Elijah on his way out of the Mikaelson's house. He vaguely asked if Caroline had already left and Elijah told him that Caroline headed out with Bonnie Bennett and Katerina's twin sister an hour prior to his arrival. That was utterly useless information to him, but what was interesting was that the soon to be assassin in training asked his older brother to tell him not to disturb her. The mentioned ways of disturbing Caroline included calling any of her friends, texting any of her friends or going out to find her. Klaus was never one to respect anyone's wishes, but he felt he could afford to leave her be this one time.

Klaus didn't understand why Caroline had gotten so worked up about him confessing the way he felt about her. He didn't know why he had said it in the first place. All the words Klaus was saying were true, but they got to his lips before he could confirm his actions. It didn't take Klaus very long before his subconscious realized he fancied Caroline, but it took a little longer before his conscious drew the line between interested in and infatuated with.

Not that there was much of a difference.

Thoughts of Caroline had invaded his brain and taken up all the space. How she talked. The way she snapped at him when he said something to set her off, the way she showed off her teeth as her lips curled into a smile to make way for a laugh. Her golden mane of hair that fell over her shoulders and the pools of blue that held all the emotion in the entire world. Caroline was the image of perfection.

When she had gotten angry with him about his accusations, which were indeed true, Klaus knew that Caroline needed at least a few minutes to cool her scalding temper. Then Camille ran into them, that set her off further. Klaus knew that Caroline was _uncharacteristically_ jealous of his ex-girlfriend's actions towards him, but knew that it was possible he was reading her wrong. Which he wasn't. Of course, Klaus was flattered that she cared about him that much, but it resulted in her leaving and not coming back.

Klaus had tried to call Bonnie, but it was no use, her cellular device was either out of battery or off. He also asked Katerina for her twin sister's number and Elena didn't pick up either. He would've ordered a 'witch' to find her, but Esther was already breathing down his neck to obliterate Caroline and it wouldn't be a surprise if his mother had already informed them about this. There was nothing he could do to find out about her whereabouts.

So instead, Klaus sat in front of the gate, drinking bourbon, waiting for Caroline to show up so he could scold her. Losing track of time happened easily as he thought about all the dangers she might've gotten herself into.

"Caroline's not with you, Nik? Must be why you look so glum," a familiar voice chuckled while the owner took a seat beside him.

"Where have you been?" Klaus growled after slamming the drink he downed on the opposite side of the park bench. "I've had one too many worries on my mind and you weren't here to calm me down and suggest what to do until I figure out an actually decent idea."

"Calm down," Rebekah rolled her eyes and let her head fall on her older brother's shoulder, "I'm back now."

Klaus almost let out a sigh of relief knowing that the quarrel they had last night wasn't going to be the start of one of those times where his sister refused to interact with him for weeks. "I couldn't help but notice that a certain Salvatore has been gone just as long as you. If you were running around with Stefan, Rebekah-"

"You're not in charge of who I can and can't be with, Nik. And we weren't out having sex all night if that's what you want to hear. We were just hanging out as friends, so don't start overreacting."

"Stefan has feelings for you and that means that it's very likely that you weren't _not_ having sex. If mother finds out-"

"There's nothing to find out about." When Klaus raised an eyebrow at her with an annoyed expression across his features, she sighed. "Stefan may have a little crush on me, but thats it. We act strictly professional."

"If he hurts you then that means I have to hurt him. Another thing to add to the list of things Niklaus Mikaelson has to do, terrific," Klaus grumbled sarcastically.

"Where's Caroline?" Rebekah asked, clearly ignoring his statement. "I was looking for her because the bed for her room was installed earlier today. I thought she'd be excited to see it, but Katherine told me she left at noon and I figured she'd be here with you. Is she freshening up in the ladies' room or such?"

"Caroline is not here _at_ _all_. She ran off with her friends after we ran into Cami on the tour. She hasn't stepped a foot on this property since."

Rebekah lifted her head from his shoulder to get a better look at him. "Cami? From New Orleans? Your ex-girlfriend?"

Klaus rolled his eyes at Rebekah's rhetorical questions, wishing he had more bourbon. "Do I know any other Cami's that _aren't_ dead?"

"What did she do when you met?"

"She literally ran into us, causing Caroline to fall on me. Then she embraced me and Caroline proceeded to exit the premises."

"Well no shit she got the hell out of there, you moron. Caroline doesn't accept or know it, but there's a part of her under her blind devotion to Tyler or even fear of Tyler, that fancies you. Just because she denies it doesn't mean it's not true."

Klaus knew that Rebekah had caught onto how he felt about Caroline and he had no intention of saying other words to spare himself from an hour of her pointless ramblings. At times, his sister knew him better than he knew himself.

"Caroline is not lying about having interest Tyler and Tyler only." Klaus was aware of how her subconscious reacted to him and how she knowingly responded to him. But Klaus knew that Caroline had no intent to give into that small portion of herself. "I can tell when she's lying."

"She's not lying if she doesn't know what she's feeling."

Klaus heard footsteps approaching him and he turned to see Camille with a bottle of bourbon and two glasses in hand. He guessed she knew that it was him and Rebekah by her facial expression which looked content.

"I come bearing gifts," Camille smiled jokingly. "May I join you Klaus and..."

"Rebekah." Rebekah stood up and analyzed Camille for the first time. "I was actually just leaving, but Klaus will stay here for a while longer." Rebekah leaned down to his ear, "make sure you stay here until Caroline comes back, okay? You need to talk," Rebekah whispered before kissing his stubbled cheek. "But I will take one of those glasses," she grinned as she swiped a glass and the from Camille's hand. Quickly, his sister opened the alcohol then filled her glass. Rebekah waved goodbye to Camille and started to walk back to their house.

"That's your sister?" Klaus nodded. "That explains the craziness. Aside from that, I imagine you're thirsty," Camille opened the bourbon and poured it into his glass. "What were you doing out here with Rebekah?"

"Rebekah only came recently. I've been out here for what seems like hours."

"Doing what?" Camille queried while pouring some of the amber liquid into her glass.

Klaus smiled at her nosiness, "waiting for a certain someone."

"By a certain someone, you mean that untrained assassin I scared off?"

He almost clicked his tongue at her words, "Caroline is not an assassin, not yet. And I can assure you, that was not the reason she left."

"Why did she leave?" Camille asked after taking a large gulp of bourbon.

"Me. Partly because of you."

A sly grin crept on her face, "what? If I didn't scare her, did I make her jealous? Is she your new girlfriend? Have you gotten over me already?"

"Caroline is just a friend."

"What about my second question, Klaus."

A smile tugged at the corners of Klaus's lips. He was well over Camille, achieved by many one night stands. What he didn't know was if Camille felt the same way. He couldn't figure out her motives if she was distracted. So he decided to leave her wondering. "Camille, why did Marcel send you here? And why were you conferencing with my mother and Silas for hours?"

"I can't tell you, at least not yet. Your mom and I are still debating about things so I'll be in town for a while longer."

"Lucky Virginia," Klaus remarked in a sarcastic tone.

"God, shut up," Camille rolled her eyes and finished her drink.

The two old friends talk for more than half an hour, drinking and only Camille laughing. All the fun was called to a halt when Klaus laid his eyes on the infamous Caroline Forbes, getting out of what looked like her car which was parked right in front of the front gate.

Klaus put his drink on the bench and rose from his seat. Caroline wasn't with her two friends that she was said to be with, it was just her. She closed her car door and made her way to the back of the vehicle. Klaus caught Caroline taking more than a glimpse of him before opening her trunk. She looked anything but happy.

Klaus took a step forward and Camille sighed, "I guess that's my cue to leave. I'll see you around tomorrow, right?"

"Goodnight Camille," Klaus muttered, indicating she should leave straight away. As Klaus heard her footsteps recede, he began to walk towards Caroline. "Caroline," Klaus started in a voice loud enough for her to hear, "we need to talk."


	10. Chapter 10

Hey, I just want to warn you, this chapter is the longest so far. Make sure to review this and tell me if you want longer chapters or shorter ones. Don't forget to follow this story and favourite as well. Read on!

* * *

"Caroline, we need to talk."

Caroline rolled her eyes at Klaus's words and took a small cardboard box out of her car. She wished Elena and Bonnie hadn't gone to the boarding house that night and stayed with her to help avoid the problem that was Klaus Mikaelson. Caroline begged and pleaded to go stay with them for the night, but her friends wouldn't allow her to abandon her responsibilities. She had to unpack tonight or she was going to be even more behind and it would be super annoying to have Elijah on her back.

"Caroline..." Klaus started.

Caroline's brain tried to convince her that she had no intention of replying him. At the same time, she didn't want Klaus to start shouting at the top of his lungs and cause a scene. Making people start leaving their rooms to find out what was up, was the last thing she wanted.

"Caroline!" He shouted and she slammed her trunk shut in annoyance. Klaus stopped a few feet in front of her, but she didn't look up at him. She just put the box down and took out her new phone that Elena and Bonnie bought her. Caroline checked the time, it was half past ten. "Where have you been, love? You're very late. I thought something had happened to you."

Caroline scoffed and put her phone back into her jacket pocket. Like he actually gave her a second thought that day. After she walked into that elevator, his undivided attention was given to that bitch.

Klaus quieted his voice and grazed her hand with his fingers, but irritation still lingered in his tone, "look at me."

She moved backwards to get away from his incredibly electrifying touch. Caroline couldn't be caught off guard by his very distracting features, she had to stay mad at him. He deserved it. "If you haven't noticed, I'm kind of busy. It's dark and I have to take these boxes to my room. So if you don't mind," Caroline motioned for him to move out of her way, but he didn't budge. For a few seconds she tapped her toe repeatedly on the pavement, giving him the benefit of the doubt, but it was no use. "Seriously? Move!"

"Where have you been?" Klaus asked a second time.

Caroline would've laughed at Klaus's question if she wasn't so fucking angry. "I'm anything _but_ obliged to tell you where I've been. Now get out of my way and call Rebekah down for me or something. I need someone who has a bigger attention span than a puppy with ADHD."

She knew that the problem was partly caused by her disability to resist getting jealous and her attention seeking tendencies. Tyler was always thinking about something other than her and though she wouldn't admit it to herself, it was a little nice to have someone so into her. Then came Camille, the spotlight thief.

"I'm anything but obliged to follow your orders, sweetheart. Where are the friends you forbade me to contact, Bonnie and Elena?"

Caroline wondered if she should tell him or not. It wasn't like her friends were breaking any rules, but she rather not talk to Klaus more than she needed to. "They're at the Salvatore's house which must be nice since they're miles away from you."

"What took you so long? I expected you to be back at five at the very most. Instead you show up here at half past ten and directing all your bottled up wrath at me who is, quite frankly, getting indignant with your unjust treatment."

Caroline set her box down so she didn't accidentally break it, "all my 'wrath' is going in the perfect direction, Klaus. Now let me be."

"I've let you be plenty! It's time to finally buckle down Caroline."

She furrowed her eyebrows and crossed her arms. Buckle down? He wasn't her boss or whatever. Who gave _him_ the right to tell _her_ to 'buckle down'? This was unbelievable. "When have you let me be?"

"Twice today actually. When I listened to you and didn't go tearing down Mystic Falls to find you and when I didn't stop you from leaving in the first place."

Caroline opened her mouth to protest, but let her eyes fall instead. He shouldn't have let her go the first time so easily, it didn't seem like he was respecting her wishes. Just like he didn't care now that Camille was there. "Tearing down Mystic Falls, huh?" Caroline scoffed and kicked a loose rock across the road, "I bet you didn't think of me twice until Elijah, or Rebekah, or even Kol asked."

"Why would you say that?"

"I don't know, Camille just looks like that type of person. The type that grabs all your attention and holds on to it super tight."

"Is all this fury because of petty jealousy?" A shadow of a smile ghosted his lips. "Love you have nothing to be jealous about, I'm solely interested in you."

"I'm not your 'love'," Caroline snapped, ignoring the flutters of her heart when she heard his words. "I'm also not jealous of you and Camille's or whatever you call her weird relationship."

It _was_ weird. _Who in hell gets along with their exes that well? _Caroline asked herself silently._ I guess Elena and Stefan do. And Elena and Matt. Matt and I get along too, along with me and Damon as well, but these are different. Way different. We have the same friends and we're forced to hang out with each other. Very different... Right?_

Klaus's expression darkened in annoyance, "then why do you remain angry with me?"

"Because I-" Caroline started and realized she couldn't pin point the exact starting point of her anger. Was it because of his New Orleans friend? Maybe because of her fear of Tyler breaking up with her after he finds out that Klaus was hitting on her and she let him. Perhaps Caroline was afraid of Tyler leaving her and telling everyone that she stayed with him after he fucked her over and over like a little bitch. Or Klaus just wormed his way under her skin.

Caroline picked up the box and opened her car's trunk. She was too exhausted to unpack today, maybe she'd call some mover tomorrow. Bonnie and Elena should've let her come, she wanted to be anywhere but here. Shoving the box into the back of her minivan, Caroline sighed. "Will you leave me alone? I'm tired and stressed out and I just want to go to sleep."

"Come to our guest room," Klaus insisted and closed the trunk of the car for her, "we'll clear this lousy excuse of a mess up there."

"No, I don't want to talk! I don't even feel like looking at you, damn it! I prayed that you had forgotten about me and were busy fucking Camille so I could unpack in peace and quiet, but no. You had to stay here, waiting for someone who doesn't even want to see your goddamn face!" Caroline purposely left the word 'sexy' out the last sentence so her rant didn't boost his ego.

"I don't think of Cami like that, Caroline," he gritted out of clenched teeth. "I stayed here because I didn't know where you were or if something happened to you."

Caroline pushed past him, stormed through the open gate and began to head towards Katherine's room. With every step, she could hear his footsteps approaching close behind her. "You should have stayed in your room, it would've been easier than to put up with Camille two point '0'." Biting her lip, Caroline wondered if that showcased her jealousy more than she wanted it to. It felt like she had put her jealousy on a silver platter and handed it over to him.

"Why don't you want to resolve this silly little quarrel that you're dragging out?" A small smirk appeared on his lips. "You know how much I fancy you, I would dread for it to go on like this."

Why did he have to keep on telling her that? Caroline was sick and tired of the word 'fancy', especially in that context and from him. Sick of hearing that charming word roll off his tongue in the most pleasing accent. Tired of hearing the sincerity and truth baked into that goddamn word.

"I just don't want to!" Caroline heard his footsteps slow to a halt and she slowed down as well, but she didn't stop just yet. "If I'm mad at you, then you'll go away and forget about me. I could live in peace without the fear of what Tyler would think crawling up my back whenever I'm with you."

"Tyler isn't here, he can't hurt you."

"I'm not afraid of Tyler!" Caroline felt her voice crack at the lie more than she wanted it to as she stopped walking.

"Then what has your knickers in a bunch?" Klaus's words were supposedly joking, but they came out as seriously as the ones before. Caroline clicked her tongue while shaking her head and sighed, Klaus was being unbelievable. "What are you afraid of?"

The blonde finally turned around to face him, "you!" Caroline took a deep breath, "I'm afraid of you."

They stayed there in silence for hours. Caroline was too unsure to anything else as Klaus's eyes bore into hers. His gaze was dark, but not cold. It felt longing and it took most of Caroline's willpower to stop herself from biting her bottom lip. In reality, all of that only lasted for a moment.

"Wouldn't it be more accurate to say you're afraid of yourself?" Klaus queried rhetorically while slowly making his way to Caroline. "You're darkest desires?" She let out a way too shaky breath at the truth in his words. Her body tensed as Klaus was only inches away from her, and a flicker of a smug smirk replaced his expression for less than a second. "I'm right, aren't I? Deep down you long to have your perfect feathers ruffled, beg to have your spotless record tinted by the worst possible person you could choose. You're body is telling you to rid Lockwood from your thoughts and do what you really want, but you can't seem to follow instructions."

"No," Caroline lied in almost a whimper, "it's not true." She could feel the forbidden arousal pooling in her lower belly as the deadly assassin tucked her blonde locks behind her ear and let his lips brush against it. _He's dangerous Caroline, he's really dangerous, don't let him do this to you._

"Then again, you might be right. There's so much to be afraid of. The vicious monster I indulge in being. The detrimental actions I enjoy doing to people. If you refused to be afraid of me and did accept the beast in a human body, the most lethal creature that roams the Earth, the thing that lesser men fear, you might end up in a metal asylum."

Caroline didn't realize how gentle his words were until he stopped talking. She blinked back the tears in her eyes before meeting his. He hid it well, but Caroline could see the hurt behind Klaus's eyes. She didn't intend for him to take it like this. It wasn't her fault she was scared. Was she even scared? "Klaus-"

"This has been quite the _fun_ evening, but think it's time you leave. Go to Katherine's dorm or Mystic Falls for all I care."

"No, you don't just get to do that to me. I am not one of your stupid one night stands that you can boss around and tell when and where to go once you decide you're done with them. I'm your friend, or at least I was your friend until you drove me away. Your doing again now by telling me how dangerous you are. Earlier, you weren't doing it intentionally, now you are and it's even worse. You think just because Tatia didn't love you, no one else will!"

Klaus backed away from her with daggers for eyes, "who told you about Tatia?" Caroline couldn't tell him it was Bonnie. It looked like he might kill whoever told her. "Was it Elijah? Kol? Rebekah?" Klaus paused, "was it my mother?"

"Maybe it's not Tatia at all," Caroline growled, ignoring Klaus's questions. "Maybe you're trying to make me hate you because your dad hated you and you think it only makes sense that everyone does! You act like the world has to revolve around you and everything has to go your way or there's no world at all! People other than you have issues and problems that you just disregard because of your selfish habits!"

"Caroline," all previous emotion in Klaus's eyes was now vanquished by the disturbingly calm, murderous look that sent shivers down her spine. "Who was it?"

"It doesn't matter who told me!" Caroline hollered, shoving the question of how much her voice was quivering down. "The point is that if you keep on pushing people away because you're afraid to get hurt, soon enough, you'll have no one to go back to! I'm sorry Tatia or your dad or whatever has impacted your life so greatly, but you're not unloveable! At least not yet. You sure are getting dangerously close."

Klaus looked down at his feet, then slowly met her eyes. A flicker of an unfamiliar emotion appeared and disappeared behind his blue green orbs and Caroline instantly regretted her harsh words, "be out here tomorrow by six am. I'll be waiting." And then he was gone. Vanished.

Caroline stayed in that same spot, realizing what she had just done.

* * *

"Niklaus, just the person I hoped would not arrive home," Kol welcomed Klaus as he passed the lounging area. He was on an massive velvet arm chair with his feet on a coffee table and his nose in a book. That was certainly a surprise, why would Kol still be in there house? Did he not have a stripper club to be at or a friend to annoy? Tonight was most definitely not the night for Kol's mischief.

"I assure you Kol, I am not in the mood for silly mind games and I believe you don't want to be the first victim of tonight's mass murder," Klaus growled. Perhaps he would start off with the remaining bodyguard who threatened Caroline.

"Mass murder?" Kol snapped his hard cover book closed and looked up at his brother when he assumingely discovered interest in their conversation once he heard those two words. "Please allow me to accompany you!"

"Though you are quite the partner in crime, I believe it would be best for me to go alone," Klaus admitted.

"Please don't leave me out of this brother! I am begging you. I've been tethered to this house for the entirety of the day, completely bored out of my mind! A quick killing spree would really hit the spot, mate."

"Why are you even here at this time of day? Should you not be doing the things you enjoy?" Klaus asked as he began up the stairs to his room.

"Mother caught me asking around about Caroline and placed a house arrest on me for it, most likely because she was peeved off that you didn't show up to her office as arranged," Kol joined him on the stairs. "So I'll just be a minute. Let me change into my psychotic killer clothes and we'll-"

"An arranged meeting with my mother? There was no such-" Klaus paused and cursed under his breath.

_Fuck. _

Klaus had completely forgotten that Elijah had informed him that his mother wanted to come to an agreement with him about Caroline. With Camille showing up out of no where and Caroline vanishing, there was no time to think about it.

"Has she come to a decision about Caroline's fate on her own then?"

"Though Caroline is quite the extraordinary beauty," Kol muttered some more adjectives to describe her, "I was much too focused on my personal well being."

"Yes because it would be the end of your life if you didn't play video games one night out of the many," Klaus hissed. No matter what Caroline said to him, she didn't deserve to die even though he had full intent to track down that useless guard and kill him for some half-arsed threat. There was no alternative, that Klaus would admit at the moment.

Kol lowered his voice and his tone switched to a serious one. "Nik, be careful. The reason I didn't want you home was because mother is in a dangerous mood and you seem to be in one as well. You two, in the state you're both in, arguing about a more than touchy subject without Elijah there to calm both of you down, is bound to ruin my sleep schedule."

"If you haven't caught on yet," Klaus started up the spiral staircase again, "just because you are on house arrest, doesn't mean you are unable to sneak out. So if your sleep schedule is so important to you, leave!"

"Great idea brother, only before I leave, I should tell room service to deliver my head on a silver platter!" Kol shouted in a whisper.

"I think she prefers gold!" He hollered back, whispering as well.

Klaus walked down the hallway towards his mother's room but before he could reach it, Rebekah caught him. "What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? Kol told me about how mother put him on house arrest. I had to climb three floors to sneak in through the bloody window so she didn't see me. Once you go in there, she'll be asking about me, then Caroline _and_ Stefan will be executed!"

"Mother actually wants to talk about the Caroline situation, but I have no intent to debate about Stefan's survival. I don't desire to have both Caroline and Stefan dead so you best hurry along to Katherina's place of living."

Rebekah eyed him head to toe and crossed her arms, "what's wrong Nik?"

_Great, Rebekah's sisterly instincts have kicked in. I forgot to try to hide my emotion. _

Telling Rebekah the truth, about his argument with Caroline had a possibility of resulting in her murder, so that was anything but an option. Klaus sighed to give himself more time before his little sister got suspicious.

An idea fluttered into his mind and Klaus tried put on the face he made when utterly devastated which was surprisingly already on his face. "Nothing Rebekah. Tomorrow is just-"

His sister nodded slowly and told him he need not say anymore. "I get it, and I would say I'm sorry if it helped, but we both already know it bloody doesn't. Goodnight Nik." Rebekah kissed her brother's cheek and Klaus returned the favour while he wished her a good night as well. Rebekah closed the door slowly and quietly so their mother wouldn't hear.

Klaus finally reached his mother's office and knocked three times. "Enter," was the only thing he heard from the other side of the door. He opened it without hesitation and Esther glanced up at him. She motioned for Klaus to sit across from her and took off her reading glasses.

"Hello mother," Klaus greeted as he sat down. Esther started to pack away the files she was reading before he arrived. "What vile plans have began forming by your will today?"

"Welcome Niklaus," Esther folded her hands on the mahogany desk in between them. Though her aura and attitude remained calm, Klaus knew it wouldn't remain that way. To keep Esther as calm as possible, Klaus decided not to bring up Caroline. "My plans may be vile, but it is all necessary."

"So Camille did come to Virginia for important matters, why?"

"I'm assuming it was you who brought Camille to my office earlier today."

"Tell me why she is here? Did you track her down after the Caroline fiasco just to torment me?"

"Why would I torment you my boy? You have done nothing wrong. Marcel sent her to deliver some files to me, that's all." Esther said fluently causing Klaus to put a fake smile on his face.

"Bullshit-"

"Niklaus, I had only found out about your intimacy with Camille O'Connell in New Orleans today while we conferred. She thought you would inform me of your relationship, it's unfortunate she thought wrong. I'm surprised you held back from telling me about her. Camille seems nice."

Klaus kept his smile on and shrugged while sighing, "perhaps it is because I enjoyed Camille in one piece. I would of loathed it if you got a hold of her like you did with-"

"Do not speak her name Niklaus. Keep the past in the past, that girl was a disastrous abomination, nothing more than a treachery. There is no reason to hurt Camille, she is an exemplary assassin, strong and confident. A considerably reasonable choice for you."

When Esther finished her statement, Klaus nearly let out a laugh that contained no joy. "Mother, you fail to see just how biased you've become. She was a bartender when I was in New Orleans, I doubt that you would've accepted her then. Now Camille has changed considerably. Her spunk, her fear, her curiosity, all replaced by a stone cold, nearly emotionless at times, attitude."

"Though I am not aware of her life story, I know now she has made an effort Niklaus, an effort that meant something. Unlike the woman you came here to discuss."

Klaus let the smile on his face fall, knowing in his mother's eyes, Caroline had made anything apart from an effort. He hated thinking about her, the words she said in the argument they had, they way she acted, nearly made his blood boil. Klaus was merely trying to look out for her after she stormed off. The situation was not Klaus's fault, but the fault of Caroline's independent character suddenly transforming into a immensely jealous one.

"I will say this only once so allow yourself to listen mother. I am not going to kill her. If you touch her with a malicious intent, conspire against her, or threaten Caroline again, you will severely regret it. I will continue to see Caroline because I will be training her to be one of us. Those are the only terms I will agree to."

Esther clicked her tongue and shook her head. "Niklaus what you fail to realize is that whether you choose to accept it or not, former agent Lockwood owns Caroline Forbes' heart and mind. She is the enemy and I forbid you from falling into the trap she's leading you to."

"You heard what Tyler did to her out in the open!" Klaus growled loudly, "I thought at least you would understand the pressure of an abusive relationship considering you took part in one longer than she has!"

"Do not raise your voice at me," Esther ordered sternly. "My son, it is not the same. Caroline Forbes has the opportunity to leave-"

Klaus reluctantly obeyed, "and you didn't? You hated him to the point of allowing yourself to love another man. I am the product of your unfaithfulness and you let Mikael beat me until I was nearly dead for it, but I'm guessing that wasn't good enough of an opportunity. If I recall correctly, I had to murder Mikael to create an opportunity for you."

"My boy," Esther placed her hand on his, "I am only doing this to protect you. You know nothing about this girl but her loyalties to Tyler."

"You cannot change my mind about her," Klaus retorted while swiping his hand back as he stood up. Klaus headed for the door knowing his mother wouldn't dare stop him.

"Do not fall in love with her Niklaus," Esther finally said when he opened the door.

"Goodnight mother."

* * *

Heart aching, Caroline walked into the room and kicked off her shoes. _I shouldn't have said anything. I should've ignored him like I wanted to. Now instead of being mad at Klaus, I'm mad at myself which is anything but fair. I just need to shower and head straight to bed._ Hopefully Katherine was passed out so she wouldn't need to deal with any late night scolding for walking in on her and Elijah.

Caroline didn't encounter her on her way, to the bathroom, so she figured it would be safe to assume her friend was fast asleep. She slipped out of her clothing and into the shower and got out as quickly as possible. Being in the shower let Caroline think, that was the last thing she wanted do.

It was hard to admit that she was partly in the wrong, but if Caroline said anything otherwise, that would be a lie. Jealousy clouded her judgement and analysis and feelings and she had no right to be jealous. Caroline was in love with Tyler, or at least she thought she was.

The second Tyler left her alone, Klaus had swooped in, saved her life and kept it safe without a warning. Being loyal to her boyfriend was the right thing to do. The Caroline thing to do. She always did what was right. Caroline couldn't just break the rules now and give into the danger of falling for Klaus. It was wrong, so horribly wrong that it hurt to even think about the possibility.

Caroline was unknowingly pushing him away. When he pushed back, her heart began to ache so she buried her feelings in fury and anger and blamed it all on him. She had to be the worst friend in the history of friends, just terrible.

When she realized that all her pyjamas were still in the car, Caroline found herself knocking on her roommate's door. She was surprised to find Rebekah in the doorway, but that didn't clear all the thoughts flying through her head.

"Sweets, are you alright?"

"What?" Caroline asked before realizing how depressed she must've looked, "oh yeah. I just need something to wear. I left my clothes in my car."

"Where's Nik?" Rebekah questioned after poking her head out the the door, probably waiting for a sneak attack from Klaus.

"Yeah, I thought after he told you he was in love with you, you'd be at it like bunnies in the heat." Katherine sashayed to her closet and paused before saying anything else. "Do bunnies go into the heat? I mean they're way too cute and innocent."

"Well I'm cute and I'm positive I can go into the heat."

"But you, my friend," Katherine stopped rummaging through her closet and handed Caroline a purple tank top and shorts, "are anything but innocent. They do say going at it like bunnies though. So does that contradict?"

Caroline sat down on Katherine's bed after she changed into the clothes while they bickered mindlessly. _Klaus can't love me. Not yet, not at all. He is incapable of love. Tyler on the other hand, loves me with all he has. With all his heart. He was even going to propose to me if Klaus hadn't been there. Klaus is terrible, he has no heart. So I won't even think about falling for his lovely words, handsome blue eyes and dimpled smile that makes your heart flutter. You have a heart. Tyler has a heart. Klaus does not._

"Caroline?" Rebekah asked quietly, "are you sure you're feeling great? What's on that pretty little head of yours?"

She didn't answer her friend immediately. Caroline felt the bed sink next to her as Katherine joined to two blondes on her newly washed sheets that were blacker than the night. She looked out of the window on one of Katherine's walls. Caroline wondered if her boyfriend was still out in the hell-forest. She prayed Tyler was okay if he was still there. "Klaus told me he fancied me this afternoon," Caroline finally said in a tone that was barely louder than a whisper.

"He did?!" Rebekah jolted up in shock, "that bloody bastard didn't mention a word about it to me!"

Katherine let out a short squeal while clapping in excitement and she smirked at her, "what did you say to him?"

"I got mad at him for it," Caroline answered with regret soaking into her words. God, how she wished she had calmed herself down. Katherine stopped clapping and Rebekah slumped against the wall. "I told him that he was trying to cause problems between Tyler and I and that I had no intention of even thinking about him that way. Then I got jealous of his ex-girlfriend so I walked out on him and hid out for the rest of the day. When I finally came back, he was waiting for me with his ex. I got mad, again and we fought. I said some things I regret and now I think I ruined our friendship."

"Oh, Care..." Katherine let Caroline fall on her lap and she ran her fingers through her hair. "I'm sorry, I know how much you like him."

"I don't-" Caroline stopped, "I can't like Klaus. Not like that. It's just a recipe for disaster. I'm in love with someone already, I can't fall for him."

"But are you in love with Tyler?" Rebekah sighed, "I mean after all the bloody things he's done to you. When was the last time he's done anything for you that didn't end up in bloody flames?"

Katherine agreed with a nod, "and just because you say you can't like Klaus doesn't mean you won't."

"I _can't_," Caroline pushed as she sat up and debated whether to say what was on her mind or not, thinking it might be offensive to Rebekah and Katherine as well. She didn't direct it to them specifically, but a killer? Could she love a killer? Maybe. Could a killer love Caroline like she could love them? She didn't know. "Klaus is-"

"An assassin?" Caroline looked down in shame at the sound Rebekah's voice, it wasn't surprised or shocked or anything like that, it was just sad and hurt. "A murderer, serial killer if you must. We all know that Nik can be a terrible person. He gets impulsive and angry, closed off and cold. He can look you in the eyes and tear every single shred of happiness away from you just in spite, but the key word here is _can_. Nik fancies you Caroline, he won't hurt you like he hurts other people-"

Trying to think about anything other than how right Rebekah's point was, Caroline cut in, "that's the point! I can't have him hurting other people, I don't want him to. I can't like someone who revels in the blood of others, it's wrong!"

"What about your friends? That pretty Bennett girl, she's murdered without a second thought. I can't wait to see the face on doe eyed Elena when she kills someone for the first time, but after a while, it won't be as fun because she _will_ get use to it. There's also that buff boy with pretty blue eyes and Kat's brother." Caroline wished Rebekah wasn't right, but she was. "What about the bloody Salvatore brothers? The legend that is Katherine Pierce? What about your bloody-"

As if she knew what Rebekah was going to say next, Katherine gave her the 'shut the fuck up' look. The blonde questioned Katherine's interference and she answered with "if Klaus hasn't told her yet, then I'm pretty sure you have no right."

Caroline had no clue what was going on, but she knew if she asked, they'd shut her down. Zoning out was easy as her friends' voices toned down to a hushed whisper. She tried to center her thoughts around Tyler, but all she could think about was the extent of her stupidity. _How could I lash out on him like that? Who knows if Camille was somewhere hidden, watching me or eavesdropping on me being a complete piece of shit and treating her ex like garbage. Seriously? Seriously, Caroline? Why are you so impatient and bossy and such a green eyed monster?_

"So Caroline," Rebekah's voice brought her back from her thoughts, "what do you have to say about your allegations?"

"I met all of those people before I knew about ... all of this. I loved them before I was aware of any of this and I can't just cut them off because of it. I can't stop loving them because I know who they really are without all the-"

"What about me? You knew I was an assassin when you spoke your first word to me. We're friends now, are we not? I know you might not care about me as much as Elena and Bonnie and the Salvatore Brothers and Katherine, but-"

The hurt and betrayal in Rebekah's voice were prominent now. There was not one single time where Caroline spotted Rebekah with anyone but Katherine, Stefan, Elijah, Kol and Klaus.

As they wandered aimlessly in the Amazon, Klaus told her that he always kept Rebekah within reach. He had the overprotective trait that he learned to despise when his mother used it on him. Based on what Klaus had said, Rebekah had more trouble making friends than her brothers had. So most of her childhood, she clung to Klaus and he didn't mind. As she got older, Rebekah learned how much she wanted friends, but she wasn't like all the other girls because of her life at TVD and that resulted in the opposite of her wanting. She was the most expressive Mikaelson. Rebekah looked like she felt more than Elijah, more than Kol. Caroline would say more than Klaus if she didn't know him or think she knew him.

According to Katherine and Rebekah's exchanged whispers, Klaus was still hiding something from her. Another reason why Caroline shouldn't, couldn't and wouldn't fall for him. She could never trust him to be completely transparent. Why should he be? Why should Klaus tell her anything? They were barely friends, it was her own fault she broke down in the Amazon. Caroline didn't have to show how she really felt, she chose to and she couldn't force Klaus to do the same.

"Rebekah, I care about you just as much as I care about all my other friends. I'm honestly just trying to find a reason that you two might consider valid. You two don't understand that I can't and I don't want to be in love with Klaus. Even if I wanted to, I don't think my heart could handle it."

"What about me? I love him. Not because he's my brother. Not because if I leave him he'll hunt me down and kill everyone I care about as a consequence. Nik has torn my heart out of my chest and shred it into two and yet each time I find myself forgiving my beloved bastard brother. We're alike, you and I, and not because of our hair. We can't stay mad at him, I can tell."

The aching returned to Caroline's chest as the words she said to Klaus replayed in her head. _How could I bring up Tatia? How could I bring up his own _father_? Am I that insensitive? God, why was I being such a bitch? _

The thing was, Rebekah was completely right. She couldn't stay mad at Klaus, but could Klaus ever _not_ be mad at her? Caroline unknowingly let a sad sigh fall from her parted lips. She only realized it when Rebekah answered it. "He won't stay angry with you either. I know at the moment, it seems like Nik never wants to see you again, but my brother is only reacting this way because the anniversary of the death of his father is tomorrow. In a couple of days, good old flirty, sex god Niklaus will be back."

The anniversary of Klaus's real dad's death is tomorrow and Caroline had said all those horrible things about him being hated by his other dad. She had just reminded him of his miserable childhood without his real dad. Caroline wasn't anywhere close to even deserving anything but his wrath, let alone her forgiveness.

Caroline coughed a bit and cleared her throat before changing the topic, not wanting to think about the pain she might of made him relive. "No matter how much you try to convince me, I can't love him like I love Tyler. I don't think my heart could handle it." It was true. Klaus had Caroline's heart on a tight leash and whenever she tried to pull away or resist, she got hurt and crawled right back to him. The two barely knew each other, they only met about a week ago. It was completely wrong that Caroline was already depressed because of Klaus and they were only friends. If she fought with him while they were dating, Caroline could possibly resort to extreme measures to control the pain. "I'm already overwhelmed enough with this whole assassin thing."

"I know, this is hard for you Care, but you have to come to terms with it. Death and murder can't be a touchy subject anymore," Katherine told her while closing her eyes. Caroline thought Katherine fell asleep, she was awfully quiet today. Maybe Kat was being considerate. Though Caroline doubted it, if Katherine was trying to be kind, she was grateful. "I know that it sounds like I'm making it sound easy because I'm _the_ Katherine Pierce, but no matter the difficulty, you have to do it."

"You are an assassin-" Rebekah started before Katherine rudely cut her off.

"Soon to be," Katherine corrected her friend with a smug smile across her perfect pink lips.

"I personally don't see a difference, you wench. The point is, in two months at most, you're going to be professionally assassinating people if you don't pussy out and my mother kills you or if my mother kills you before, just for kicks. Klaus will train you to be ruthless when you kill people. You will have to learn to rid yourself of your morals and forget about your conscious when you prepare yourself to drive a knife into someone's neck or fire a bullet through their brain. But we'll be here when you need us. Klaus will be there even when you don't need him."

Caroline didn't respond. Of course Klaus was training her, it was so like him to pull a stunt like that, being the possessive and protective person he was. She didn't want to think about it. Any of it. Caroline just wanted to fall into a sleep where she could hide from all her problems. Soon enough, she did.

* * *

As Klaus finished up his run, he was less than surprised at the absence of the fiery blonde he walked out on yesterday night. He sat down on a bench by the track with a sigh. Klaus intended to meet Caroline, specify the wrongs of her actions, then clarify that she had no reason to be jealous of him and Camille. Though all of those events came to pass, they happened in a less subtle manner than Klaus had desired.

The moment he stormed out on Caroline, Klaus didn't intend to cause harm to her feelings, he half expected her to follow him, but she didn't. After his 'negotiation' with Esther, Klaus watched Caroline's feet drag her soulless body to where she was to stay and it was obvious how hurt she was by his action. Rebekah's empty room's window that faced the training field had been strangely useful to him for once in his lifetime. Caroline had walked away from Klaus plenty and he brushed it off. Did Klaus have more of a hold on her than she did he?

Klaus did understand why she didn't follow him. Caroline was resilient, hot headed and impeccably stubborn. There was no reason for her to chase him after she clarified how she felt or rather how she thought she felt. Describing Klaus's feelings with the adjective 'frustrated' was a complete understatement. Caroline's arousal and allure to him was radiating off her. Klaus could tell how undesired and intrusively forbidden the feelings were, but they were there. Did it matter if Caroline was drawn to him or not? She wouldn't leave Lockwood if worms had begun to eat through his skin and make of it their home. Caroline's bright and purely good radiance reminded him of how bad he was for her. It exposed the monster he was, brought it into the light. She made him remember the easier days where his creators were calm and collected. Almost nonexistent. Now the demons that created the monster he was roamed his mind freely.

As he thought of the piercing words from Caroline's lips that she had screamed the prior night, it triggered unpalatable subjects and memories that Klaus believed he had forsaken long ago.

His fathers were what someone would call a 'touchy subject'. Klaus attempted to shut out the horrid memories and unanswerable questions that came along with his fractures of fathers. This method reduced the time wasted with ineffectual thoughts roaming around his head and ultimately distracting him from the bigger picture.

It wasn't as if Klaus didn't talk about them at any expense. He would occasionally crack a quick 'joke' with only a few hearing about the merciless torture he received from Mikael and how his real father supposedly watched from the sidelines, allowing Mikael publicly shame and humiliate him. Klaus didn't mind mentioning or briefly conversing about his fathers, but when people tried to dig up too much of the past, he would cut them off.

Finding ways to avoid thinking about the men who called themselves his fathers usually wasn't too difficult. But whenever the anniversary of one of their deaths came to be, the horrendous recollections came through the floodgates.

Like the one where Klaus discovered that he wasn't truly a Mikaelson. He was solely the product of his mother's sinful deeds. Klaus was brought to tears, thinking that his brothers and sister would no longer accept him. Elijah assured him that he was wrong, and he was. After that, Mikael began beating him more relentlessly, for he was a walking reminder of his mother's unfaithfulness.

Another memory that unfortunately etched it's way into his brain was the day of his biological father's death. In the dead of the night, Klaus alone was awake, carving a figurine and caught Mikael returning home with another's blood dripping off his crimson stained clothes. Once everyone including Mikael was fast asleep, Klaus followed the trail of blood and it lead him to his real father. He matched the description and was identical to the photo his mother had showed him once out of pity, except he was drenched in blood and was carrying a piece of wood through his chest.

Though Klaus had never met his biological father, the shadow of pain and sorrow hovered over him nonetheless. Klaus had preferred to the day like every other year, which were typically spent alone or with Rebekah and sometimes Elijah. Kol was much to hyperactive for Klaus to willingly choose to spend time with him on the particular day. Finn was never there, his mother was grieving by her lonesome.

This year, he was stuck training the beauty who had unexpectedly peaked his interest more than she should have. That beauty also broke the rules and continuously lied to him, lied to herself. When he thought of her, everything else seemed to fade even as she spit hostile words that were far too empty for him to dwell on. Except when Caroline mentioned his father and past lover.

Either his mother, Rebekah or Kol told her about Tatia. As he pondered on her words, Klaus decided it would be ludicrous to think Elijah would sit down and converse with Caroline, about Tatia of all people, when she was this behind on learning the art that is assassination. The two brothers also preferred not to bring up the disaster that was Tatia, so it only left their siblings and mother. There was a good chance his mother might have been trying to frighten her into leaving or succumbing to her deadly tactics. Rebekah couldn't keep her mouth shut for the life of her, but Kol would most definitely find joy in sharing Klaus's pain with another person.

"I'm sorry I'm late," a familiar voice apologized and he turned around to see the voice's owner approaching him. Klaus didn't attempt to hide his eyes scandalously taking her all in. Caroline wore black leggings that highlighted her curves and a sports bra that dipped dangerously low, giving him and all the other males quite the view. Her blonde curls were tied up in a high ponytail to keep them from getting in the way. "I was just unsure what to wear because I had no idea what we were actually doing today and Elena doesn't train with you and Matt wasn't picking up his phone. Matt trains with Alaric so I have no idea why I even tried to get ahold of him. I guess I miss him. Anyways, I decided to wear something simple that Katherine could lend me and I'm here now. Am I rambling? God I'm rambling..." Caroline's voice was softer than usual, more unsure. She probably felt the irritating stings of guilt. Klaus was no longer angry with her, so he hoped Caroline would catch on soon enough.

"Five laps on the track to warm up," Klaus gave her a dimpled smile, "hurry on now, you're late. You said it yourself sweetheart." He heard her breath hitch as he looked up from the grassy ground, his gaze laying on her. "Is everything alright, love?"

"Oh, sure," Caroline cleared her throat awkwardly and picked up her hand to pull back a strand of hair that wasn't there, "I was just hoping maybe we could talk?"

Klaus pursed his lips and held his hands behind his back, "warm up, I assure you, after our training lesson, you'll so exhausted we'll have plenty of time to sit down and discuss."


	11. Chapter 11

Hey, make sure to leave a review about any ideas about what should happen next. What POV do you guys like better? I feel like I make Caroline's longer usually because I'm not sure if I can tap into Klaus's thoughts and stuff that well. Anyway, make sure to leave a review on this, like and favourite. Enjoy!

* * *

"What's next?" Caroline barely asked through her gasps, attempting to catch her breath. She realized now that becoming an assassin wasn't going to be a piece of cake. It was going to be way harder than she thought and Caroline already thought it was going to be tough before she even started.

After her five laps, she stretched for some time, which was the best part of training so far. It was good to know that she still had that cheerleader flexibility in her. Then Klaus made Caroline run for another hour nonstop to build up the endurance she lost over time. She tried her best to keep a steady pace, but running became jogging and jogging became speed walking and so on. Klaus eventually had to start running with Caroline to encourage her to keep going.

Then she had to do twenty reps of upper body strength exercises and twenty reps of lower body strength exercises. Again, Klaus had to do most of it with her. She really had no idea why she needed to do such intense workouts, even Klaus was sweating. So much he had to take off his shirt, revealing his incredibly toned abs and perfect muscles. Sweat was glazed over his tattoo and made his hair fall into ringlets. It was almost impossible to rip her eyes away from the sight and focus on completing the tasks she was given.

Apparently, Caroline wasn't the only female to find his physique intriguing. A ton of local whores were giving him googily eyes and giddy, flirtatious smiles. Of course Klaus gave them a dimpled smile or a wink, but she just rolled her eyes and glared at the prettiest ones.

Klaus wasn't the only one getting stares. Caroline felt eyes on her as she bent over to stretch and even heard the occasional whistle. A part of her wondered what Tyler would do if he was there. He'd most likely go ballistic if he heard a guy whistling at her. At the same time, if Tyler was there, Klaus would probably be skinning him alive. Klaus looked like he was already getting pissed off at the whistlers as well.

Boys.

He seemed okay. It looked like he didn't even remember what that day was. Klaus had told her he wasn't mad or anything, but he didn't know that she knew that it was the anniversary of his dad's death. Caroline prayed that Klaus was okay, if not she would never forgive herself.

"Hand to hand combat. Inside there are some tools we can use to practise with." Klaus held out his hand to her. Caroline gingerly accepted it and let him help her to her feet. "Do you know anything about hand to hand combat?"

"I learned some Muay Thai with Matt when I was younger. A while back, my mom taught me some basics about close combat with simple weapons too. I've also taken a few basic self defence lessons recently, but I think I still have a long way to go, so don't get your hopes up."

"Why have you been taking self defence recently?"

Caroline tried not to visibly swallow. She was taking the classes just in case she didn't remember how to do everything that she learned as a kid. The self defence classes were shit quality, Caroline only took them to show Tyler that she wasn't weak without saying it to his face. She didn't want to get hurt again, but he couldn't be suspicious, so Caroline had no choice but to go through the self defence classes that basically just taught you not to go out by yourself at night. "I-I thought it would be fun to go," she lied and he raised an eyebrow. "Bonnie wanted to go and Elena and I thought going with her would be the best friendly thing to do."

"So Bonnie Bennett, one of the most downright frightening people I know of, that has sent men running while engulfed in flames, wanted to go to a self defence class?"

Before Caroline could counter Klaus's statement, a finger tapped her shoulder. She spun on her heels to face a sweet blue eyed football player who wouldn't answer his phone. "Matt!" Caroline threw her arms around his neck and he hugged her back. It felt good to hug him again. They hadn't seen each other in while, maybe a day or two.

"Care," Matt chuckled playfully as he took one of his earbuds out of his ears then returned his hand to Caroline's waist. "Was it you blowing up my phone this morning? Elena told me you got a new phone yesterday because yours was ruined in the crash. I figured only you would call me so many times."

Caroline pulled away from his embrace to hit her forehead with the heel of her palm. "Oh yeah, you don't have my number. Seriously? I can't believe I forgot. Do you have your phone on you?"

"Yeah, but it looks like you're sort of busy right now." Matt glanced at Klaus causing her to turn back and check on him. Klaus had his annoyed/mad/'stop wasting my time' smile on with his hands folded behind his back and Caroline almost grimaced. "Anyways, the gang's going to The Grill tonight, you should come. Stefan said you and Bonnie could stay at the boarding house with him, Alaric, Elena and Damon so you don't have to worry about having a ride home."

A warm smile spread across Caroline's pale rose coloured lips as she thought about the fun times she spent with her friends at The Grill. It would be nice to relax and get drunk and laugh. "What about you and Jeremy?"

"We'll spend the night at Tyler's." Matt must've seen the change of her expression when he mentioned Tyler because his beautiful blue eyes softened at Caroline sadly. "Hey, don't worry about him, Care. Tyler will be back soon and he'll apologize for everything that happened, I know it. He's not the dick with uncontrollable anger issues anymore. Tyler has matured from the beginning of senior year, just like you have."

Caroline bit her lip nervously, remembering the reason why Matt broke up with her. She was as shallow as a kiddie pool and extremely annoying, she was never good enough for anyone. Matt didn't mind the annoying part or the many insecurities, but the shallow part was a deal breaker after Tyler started hanging out with her.

"I bet he's really sorry and wants to see you just as much as you want to see him," Matt patted her shoulder reassuringly.

Caroline only answered with a slow nod. Matt was so trusting and almost as naive as she was when he first hurt her. It would ruin the already semi gloomy mood if she brought it up then, so she didn't.

"We all can even toast to his return in advance. Except maybe Damon," her blue eyed friend wasn't fond of the Salvatores. Stefan or Damon. Stefan because he stole Elena from him and Damon because, well Damon had done a lot of things. Damon was just a dick to Matt for no reason. Caroline wasn't looking forward to seeing him. There would be a whole lot of teasing going on after her drunk storytelling.

After finally agreeing to a night of fun in Mystic Falls, Matt continued on his run and Caroline turned back to Klaus. "So, hand to hand combat," Caroline started to try to take his mind off of her really bad lie.

"It was because of Tyler harming you, was it not?" Klaus asked rhetorically. He already knew, her lie was useless.

Klaus's eyes lingered on her cheek where there was a faint white line. The scar that was once a cut he noticed when they were first together in the Amazon. It was the first time Klaus's voice was gentle. His voice was so soothing, Caroline thought it could be a crime. The articulated syllables in the British accent that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand. Klaus somehow knew it was from Tyler throwing the glass at her. She wondered how. A part of her wished he'd rub his calloused thumb over it again, but Caroline knew he wouldn't, she told him to back off last night. That was exactly what he was doing.

"Yeah, um, I was looking for a way to protect myself. I didn't want to relearn Muay Thai even though it would've been easier. I would hate myself if I hurt him and I didn't want any accidents to happen. The self defence classes were just loads of shit anyway so nothing good came out of that."

"Well there's everything to fear now that I am your instructor," Klaus revealed his sexy dimples with a smile, "I'll teach you everything you need to know, l- Caroline."

Caroline felt an unfamiliar pang of sadness when Klaus avoided calling her love. Then again, the night before, she told him that she wasn't his 'love'. It would make sense for Klaus to stop when Caroline asked, if he was a gentleman or a decent person, but he wasn't. Whenever she snapped at him and he called her love, she always asked him to stop, so why did he suddenly decide to respect her wishes now? Caroline really needed to make sure he knew that she wasn't mad anymore, just super sorry.

Plus if she wasn't trying to not think about him, Caroline would say it felt nice to be called love or sweetheart.

It was a little cute.

"Klaus," Caroline started and he turned his head to look at her. His blue eyes were strangely not full of intensity and anger. Klaus looked calm and cool. She would hate to ruin his mood. The last time she tried and successfully brought up a fight that happened the night before. "I'll race you there?" Caroline's statement embarrassingly came out more as a question than one.

"I don't think you would like the results," Klaus smirked and before he could continue Caroline was off.

Caroline considered herself to be a runner. She was cheer captain which helped her stamina and even did track from elementary to junior high. That's why Caroline was a little surprised when Klaus beat her by a good thirty seconds.

"Seriously?" Caroline complained with a pout and Klaus smiled.

"Running is for another day. Now for fighting."

...

"Your shoulder should be rotating one quarter of a circle when you extend your arm," Klaus reminded her, "you're rotating around a hundred-twenty degrees." Caroline rolled her eyes but didn't say anything because he was right. "Don't have your feet so planted, lighten up so they don't knock you over. Bend your knees a little more. I hope I'm not seeing your thumb inside your fist Caroline-"

"I know how to jab got it," Caroline snapped at Klaus, "tell me what to do already." Caroline wanted to rip that dummy's head off. Surprisingly, she remembered more she thought she would and Klaus was going at a pace that was way too slow for her. "I can take it."

Klaus raised an eyebrow folded his hands behind his back. "Jab right, jab left, hook left, roundhouse right, stomp right, hook right, jab left, jab right, roundhouse left, side-snap right..."

Unknowingly, Caroline drowned out Klaus voice and began senselessly beating the dummy. It was like everything she hated about herself, someone else, or just life was compacted into a rubber figurine. She hated that Tyler was gone because of her, she hated that the next time she'd see Tyler would probably be at his execution. Caroline hated that jealousy got the best of her, she hated that Klaus was distant because of her, she hated that he made her heart race. Most of all, she hated that she could see Camille watching them, or rather Klaus, on the bench and that Camille had a better chance of being with Klaus now that he hated her. Wait... what?

_I have zero interest in Klaus Mikaelson. I love Tyler Lockwood. I want to be with him, not Klaus. I want to hug him and kiss him for eternity. I want Tyler Lockwood's hands on my body, not Klaus Mikaelson's. Tyler's hands are soothing and calming. They travel from my back to my arms to my neck._ Caroline started to jab and kick the dummy harder. _Tyler wasn't choking me in the jeep, he didn't want me dead, he didn't want to kill me, he could never. Tyler loves me-_

"Caroline-" A hand was placed on the small of her back and Caroline tensed up as she gasped. Without wasting a second, Caroline spun around and hooked Klaus in the face. She hit him so hard, her follow through caused her to trip past him.

Klaus barely stumbled backwards, but that didn't stop Caroline from freaking the fuck out. "Oh my God! Are you okay? I am so sorry, I didn't mean to, I was so lost in thought." Caroline ran over to him with her hands over her mouth. She scanned his face and found a reddish mark on the top of his left cheekbone. "No..." she cupped his face with her hand and ran her thumb over the bruise. "It's bruised. I gave you a bruise. Seriously? God, I am so terrible at this."

"The fact that you actually managed to make contact with me means quite the opposite," Klaus chuckled. "You're a better starter than most of my protégés. You also caught me off guard so don't get your hopes up."

"I'm supposed to be your friend and I just keep on hurting you," Caroline sighed as she saw Camille get up and move on to the target practices from the corner of her eye.

"I almost dodged your attack, so only your astonishingly hard knuckles got me. I heal faster than the average man as well," Klaus reached for her hand on his face. When he got to it, he lightly traced his fingers over the back of her hand as if he was unsure if it was okay to touch her. "And this is quite the distraction."

Apologizing, Caroline quickly took her hand off his face, "I am really out of it today."

"What horrid thoughts had you more out of the sorts than usual?" Klaus hummed in a questioning tone as he spun her around to face the punching dummy.

Nervously, Caroline bit down on her lip as she felt Klaus's fingers delicately ran down her arms. "Tyler," she barely panted out.

A smirk appeared on Klaus's face as he lifted her arms into the basic punching position she had learned since she was a little girl. "I would of punched me with that force as well if my mind was on him."

Caroline didn't reply right away, thinking over the question she was about to ask. Would Klaus even answer truthfully? He hated Tyler's guts, why wouldn't he put in a bad word for him? "When you were watching Tyler and I fight on our tour of the Amazon, was Tyler really trying to kill me?"

Klaus slid his hands down to her waist, "yes."

"How do you know?" Caroline shuddered at the thought and the feeling of Klaus's hands on her.

Klaus leaned over Caroline to whisper in her ear. His bare toned chest was pressed up against her back. She could feel his firm, defined abs against her back where her sports bra was the only piece of clothing between them. Caroline desperately hoped that the other assassins in there wouldn't think they were one of 'those' couples. "Center your body weight to avoid tripping like an imbecile when you throw a harder punch."

"I'm in love with Tyler," Caroline followed his instructions and tried to center her weight better, but it was hard with Klaus touching her bare skin.

"Widen your stance," he muttered, completely ignoring Caroline's statement.

"And he's in love with me. He would never intentionally hurt me. How do you know Tyler was trying to kill me?"

_Seriously? Come on? What else would he be doing with his hands around your neck? Hugging you?_

There was no answer from Klaus. Caroline knew that he knew something she didn't. Or he could just be lying to her to make Tyler less appealing. His fingers slowly drummed on her flat stomach, before tracing patterns on her. Klaus was probably wondering how to answer her question.

As if God was on his side, just before Caroline asked again, Klaus's phone began to ring. So he let go of her to go grab it and after looking at the caller for a while he answered it. While grabbing his shirt, Klaus told whoever it was to hold on as he walked back to Caroline. "Duty certainly calls," he smirked, "my mother is requesting my attendance at a meeting. Your performance was more than adequate today. Keep it up and maybe you'll become half as good as me. Enjoy your night out, I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Klaus immediately returned to his phone call, leaving her great big question ultimately unanswered.

* * *

Klaus strode into the room with a sly smile on his face, ignoring the irritating pain that repeatedly came with the image of his slaughtered father, reappearing each time he closed his eyes to blink. He also ignored the angry, annoyed stares he received from most of the people in the room.

"Greetings, I would apologize for my tardiness if I actually gave a flying fuck," Klaus rubbed his hands together as he laughed partly because he would hate for his distress to slip through the mask and it was hilarious that everyone looked so angry with him.

It wasn't Klaus's fault he had to change into appropriate clothing. Quite frankly, Klaus didn't care if everyone in the room stared at him but the last time he arrived to one of those pesky meetings shirtless, he got an earful from his mother. So he went back to his room to change into a dark pair of jeans, a navy blue henley and a black jacket.

His mother sighed at his foul language at such a formal gathering. Elijah opened his mouth to comment something, most likely to scold him, but sighed instead with a hint of amusement behind his eyes. Bonnie and Damon smirked at him and she leaned back in her chair. She silently tapped her pen on the long mahogany table that seated twelve. Klaus winked at them before scanning the other eight people.

Alaric Saltzman sat on the left side of the table to the right of the Bennett witch and the left of Damon Salvatore. Klaus didn't have enough enthusiasm to project a certain feeling towards Alaric, but he knew Alaric despised him. It was for no apparent reason, perhaps it was because his ex-girlfriend died on a mission Klaus refused to take part in. No matter, he had a new stunning medic now holding onto his arm.

Camille was there as well, seated near the end table on the opposite side from the creatures of Mystic Falls. The meeting must've had to do with Camille's arbitrary arrival. There had to be a more plausible reason than needing to deliver a few papers. The seat beside her and across his mother was empty seat with a phone before it.

Silas.

No one had ever seen Silas except Esther herself. No one knew why he hid himself, Klaus concluded that he was just a coward and would hate if The Other Side got a hold of him. In the back of Klaus's mind, at times he thought he was a myth, a hoax even that his mother used to keep control and shut down any ideas of an uprising.

The rest of the lot were locals that Klaus didn't bother to know. He took a seat beside his older brother, "so, you all have hauled me away from a very important matter." Klaus slightly smiled as he thought of the blonde with his hands on her waist and stomach, his body pressed up against hers in a way that could become so intimate. It was unfortunate Klaus had to refrain from calling her names, but Caroline couldn't be angry with him again.

Klaus stopped smiling as the picture of Caroline transformed into his father, bloody and dead. "What is the situation? Why am I here?"

"Niklaus," Elijah nodded at him subtly, "Camille was proceeding to elucidate on the reason why she arrived in this branch of TVD."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at her and Camille returned the gaze before looking back at Elijah. She sat up in her seat and cleared her throat, "we have reasons to believe that the Other Side is planning to attack New Orleans."

"Impossible," Klaus stated as if it would change the situation. There was no way that The Other Side found them. Klaus wasn't in a good mood in the first place, that day was not the day to tell him that their rivals were going to destroy his second home.

"I hate it as much as you do, but that doesn't make it any less true," Camille glanced at him with soft eyes before starting again. "Marcel originally wanted to come here to spread the word, but I volunteered instead because he's their leader and they need him there in case The Other Side attacked."

Elijah's expression was unchanged. His brother had learned that he was always to remain calm so people would follow his example as a higher figure and abstain breaking into chaos. "How are you so certain they are plotting this attack?"

"One of Marcel's daywalkers was sent to find The Other Side's base. We lost contact with him while he was still searching for the place." Camille clenched her jaw before continuing, "he came back about a week ago with werewolf venom in his system."

Klaus heard a tired groan fall from Damon's mouth. Damon had run in with werewolf venom approximately a year ago and it wasn't his best moments. Werewolf venom was a deadly poison that weakened it's victims until they were ghastly pale and slicked with sweat. It caused pain so horrendous, they would rather take their own life than live with it for another second. They hallucinated and went rampant until their last hour. Then they're completely worn out and can barely move and die a slow agonizing death.

The strange thing was that Klaus was immune to the toxin and his blood had a component that counteracted the werewolf venom. Acting as something like a cure. The rest of the Mikaelson family unfortunately didn't inherit the trait, so it must've been from his father's family line. Perhaps his ancestors built up an immunity to poison quite the while ago.

"The daywalker gave us a note in the last minutes of his life." Camille stopped to rummage through her bag and pulled a piece of white card stock with words written on one side of it.

Damon reached across the table and snatched the note from her hands, "ah. Shit." Alaric took it next and Bonnie wasted no time to steal it for herself.

"Bonnie, do read it out loud for those who are not currently with us," Esther ordered in a less diminishing tone than usual. She was always more tender towards the young Bennett for she was nothing less than a prodigy and had surpassed the skills of even Esther herself.

Bonnie glanced at the phone on the table's dark screen. It seemed like suspicion was growing inside of her and there was no reason it should not. Silas hadn't spoken a word, for all they knew it could be a recording device. Inhaling deeply, Bonnie began to read aloud. "'Greetings TVD, we are sending this note back with your special delivery as a thank you. Your spy was very helpful after we injected him with poison and was extremely kind by giving us your exact location. If you haven't caught on yet, we're coming for you. You won't know when, but always be on your guard because we intend to bring TVD down to a crumbling mess.'" Bonnie placed the note on the table and slid it towards Elijah. "Signed, TOS. The Other Side."

While Elijah read over it once more, calculating their next move, Camille started again. "Since werewolf venom causes hallucinations, we suspect that while hallucinating, the daywalker told them our location. Now they're coming for us."

Esther folded her hands on the table, "what does Marcel Gerard plan to do to stop the ultimate destruction of the French Quarter's TVD?"

"We haven't structured an exact plan yet," Camille replied, "but we have some ideas."

"Such as?"

"First of all, we've called in Freya Mikaelson."

Esther's eyes hardened and Klaus smirked while Elijah furrowed his brow. That was certainly unexpected.

"Aw great," Damon groaned as he rolled his blue eyes, "another one of you guys."

"You are certainly one to talk Damon considering there are already one too many Salvatores," Klaus smirked in a matter of factly way.

"Come on Klaus. Stefan's not _that_ bad."

"Freya Mikaelson?" Bonnie butted in with a sigh, almost astonished. Freya was nothing short of a legend to most Mystic Falls residents especially the 'witches'. Klaus personally didn't see what the excitement was about. To him, she was just his elder sister.

Elijah paused for a second before asking a question. "Why would you bring Freya into this? She is currently on her well deserved vacation."

"We know, but she's one of the best and we need the best to protect ourselves," Camille returned sternly, "and that's why we're asking for you." Camille's head turned dead at him and her eyes locked with his. "Will you to come back to New Orleans?"

Silence thickly loomed over the room and twenty four eyes rested on his entity. It was as if they were waiting for Klaus to make his decision. Little did they know, Klaus had already decided on a clear answer.

"Absolutely not." Klaus began to stand up knowing that his use in the meeting had come to a conclusion.

"Niklaus, wait." Elijah gestured for him to return to his seat, "everyone apart from Camille is free to leave this meeting and proceed with your regular activities. We thank you for sacrificing your time."

Everyone got up and started to head out and Damon smirked as he got behind Klaus before exiting. "I know the only reason you want to stay here is because of our good old Mystic Queen. Good luck trying to convince Mrs. Strict-aelson and The Noble Brother to let you stay with your lady friend who tells me the all sorts of things you do to her lady parts." He whispered quiet enough for only Klaus to hear. Klaus hissed an insult back at him as he strutted out the door.

There was no way in hell she would tell him something as personal as that. Right?

Only Klaus, Elijah, Esther, Camille and the phone remained and Klaus had no problem starting the conversation. He had to speak to Rebekah about the absurd idea Camille brought up and of TVD's intentions with her elder sister. "Brother, you are aware just as well as I am that-"

"Niklaus," Elijah interrupted in a firm tone, "will you at least _attempt_ to hear Camille out after her journey here?"

"It is anything but my fault that she travelled to ask an idiotically rhetorical question!"

"Niklaus." Elijah said again to silence his ramblings, "Camille will you further explain your reasoning?"

"I cannot just get up leave to New Orleans because of a haphazardly written note that wouldn't scare those in their adolescence years." Klaus smirked at Camille with little humour. "You should know better than to convince yourself that without a second thought I would get rid of my life, Cami. You are supposed to be a psychologist."

In all honesty, if Klaus hadn't met the exquisite Caroline Forbes, he would be packing his bags. Leaving her without checking in for a day was ludicrous, Klaus felt like he was going to reduce Mystic Falls to a blood bath when Caroline was not in contact with him for less than half a day. It was nothing less than preposterous to leave Caroline in Virginia without knowing the date he would return to her.

"I didn't convince myself anything Klaus," Camille answered firmly. "I knew it was going to be hard to convince you especially with all your new responsibilities, but I was hoping you'd consider it... for me."

All traces of a smirk disappeared from Klaus's expression. Though he still cared for Camille deeply, she was no longer his priority. A new blonde with a bubbly personality had caught his eye. "Though I don't despise those from the French Quarter, my family is here. Rebekah only arrived-"

"Freya will be in New Orleans Niklaus. She is family as well," Esther sighed. "Though she can be quite difficult-"

"It's actually quite comical for you to think that of my sister. Hilarious how the mother who gladly gave her firstborn to her undoubtedly lunatic of a sister, knows her so well." Klaus retorted with a glare. When Klaus and Freya first met, Klaus couldn't stand her. Now that they had gotten to know each other, Klaus would not tolerate any insults towards her.

Elijah nearly sighed in response to his brother and his mother's argument. "Now is not the time for you to bestow your disappointment on your children, mother. There are much more important conundrums at hand. Camille, do you have an estimated time for how long my brother will stay in the French Quarter if he decides to do so?"

"I don't know," Camille admitted. "A month? Maybe longer? It's still very unclear, but we have to assume they're planning their moves or maybe even on their way already. Klaus, this place isn't your only home. You have a home in New Orleans too, we're just as much your family as TVD, Virginia. Right now, the French Quarter needs you more than your family here does. On behalf of New Orleans and as your colleague and your friend, I'm begging you."

Instead of answering, Klaus alone gave her the dangerous look that signified he was aware of the trickery she was attempting to use against him.

"Look Klaus, I know you have responsibilities here but-"

Klaus widened his eyes failing to contain the sarcasm in them. "Yes! My responsibilities such as the capturing and interrogation of Tyler Lockwood! I was off by but a single hair and I will not allow it to happen again."

"That 'single hair' was Caroline Forbes wasn't it? The cheerleader who majored in drama and most importantly Tyler Lockwood's girlfriend," Camille stated in a matter of fact tone. "The old Klaus, the Klaus I thought I knew would've killed Tyler without hesitation. Worrying about the casualties would be the last thing on his mind. I'm not saying I agree with that lifestyle, but if you changed for the better, who am I to stop you? The thing is that I think you want to stay here because of your new dirty little secret."

"Don't speak of her like that," Klaus warned her. "I have killed people for way lesser reasons than insulting ones that I consider important to me. I personally don't think it would be wise to continue."

"Niklaus, if your decision to stay is biased by Caroline Forbes in any matter, rid of that thinking immediately." Esther's face remained blank as Klaus stared daggers at her, "she is nothing compared to your own blood and your blood is Freya, in New Orleans. I am also your blood, telling you to go."

Klaus smiled coldly and stood up from his seat, "I'm finished here."

Esther sighed, "I love you Niklaus and I am certain you will not perish in New Orleans, but believe me if you continue that way, Caroline Forbes will be the death of you."

As he opened the exit door, Klaus turned to his mother. "Maybe I will die at her hand, but at least I won't perish by the hand of my lover's husband in the way my father did."

With that, he left the three people in the room, silenced.


	12. Chapter 12

I don't really have anything to say this chapter lmao. Make sure to like and follow the story so you know when the next update is since they are usually all over the place. Leave a review and tell me what you think or any ideas you have because I would love to incoorperate them! Okay you can read now.

* * *

"This isn't doing too much right?" Rebekah asked Caroline as she twisted her body with her eyes still locked on the mirror hanging on a wall in Caroline's bedroom, trying to view every inch of herself in a short blue dress.

"Even though this is your official first date, you should know that Stefan doesn't really care about what his dates wear so you can forget about him giving you his approval and even if he did, you look fine Rebekah," Caroline reassured her self conscious friend.

Rebekah's head snapped back to look at Caroline who was unenthusiastically unpacking her last box. "I know I look fine, you bitch. I look stunning at the very least. And I'm not searching for Stefan's approval, I'm not searching for anyone's approval." Rebekah turned back to the mirror and slowly smoothed the wrinkles out of her dress, "it's just that... she's going to be there."

"Elena?" Caroline groaned, "please tell me you're not jealous of Elena and Stefan's relationship. They're just friends."

"I'm not jealous of that two timing little bitch!" Rebekah took a deep breath to calm herself down. "I just want to prove to Stefan that there are other girls that can be better or at least as good as she was."

"C'mon," Caroline playfully rolled her eyes at the blonde Mikaelson, "don't be silly. Being jealous of Elena and Stefan is like being jealous of Katherine and Stefan."

"I am not jealous! And Katherine is infatuated with Elijah to the extent of major disturbance. They are more happy together than ever and Katherine has no intention of going back to him. Stefan also hates her so that helps my case."

"Well Elena loves Damon so much that it's disturbing. They're as happy as ever and Elena would never think about leaving Damon. The only difference is that Stefan doesn't hate her."

Rolling her eyes, Rebekah walked out of the room with Caroline at her heels. "So have you made up with my brother yet?"

"I seriously don't know," Caroline answered, uncomfortably shifting in her red leather jacket. "He's acting normally but... different somehow."

"How so?" Rebekah queried while pounding on Katherine's room's door. Caroline almost responded but Rebekah stopped her to listen through the barrier between her and Katherine.

After a few seconds of silence other than the sounds of lip locking, Katherine barely responded. "Yes?"

"Will you be coming to The Grill or do you intend to leech on to my brother for the rest of the night?" Rebekah's question sounded more like a statement.

Some giggles later, Katherine answered again. "Maybe. I'll think about it." Rebekah grimaced and looked like she could puke when her brunette friend's last word came out as a breathy moan.

Rebekah and Caroline scurried away from Katherine's room and out the front door door, wanting to hear no more. The two walked to the parking lot where Stefan was waiting for them while Rebekah chatted mindlessly about nothing but him without realizing it. Though she denied it entirely, playing it off as being bored, Rebekah really _really_ liked him and Caroline hoped that Stefan liked her just as much.

As subtly as possible, Rebekah's face lit up as her blue eyes landed on Stefan and his reaction to seeing her was a mirror image. "If you arrive a little late, it makes you seem not as desperate."

"I will keep that in mind the next time I pick you up for a drink," Stefan agreed smoothly and Caroline almost gagged at his flirting as she voluntarily got into the back seat and buckled her seatbelt.

"Bold of you to assume this isn't a pity date," Rebekah smirked as she sat in the passenger's seat. "Keep up your charm and I'll think about it. Now for you Caroline, what's wrong with the bond between you and Nik?"

"Care to catch me up?" Stefan asked as he began on his way to Mystic Falls and Caroline sighed while pinching the bridge of her nose.

_This is going to be a __long ride._

"I'm assuming she's informed you on her overstay in Brazil," Rebekah chuckled softly.

"You mean the shin kiss kidnapping shenanigans?" Stefan corrected in a way that seemed to be so hilarious to Rebekah, but Caroline just rolled her eyes. "That's what she called it when she was so drunk she could've passed out and puked at the same time."

"The SKKS," Rebekah nodded her head, pleased with herself. "I like it."

"I know that much," Stefan said with a small smile. "What else has happened Care?"

"Well," Caroline started with a sigh, "Esther asked me, or rather semi forced me, to come to a family dinner. Klaus got mad at Esther because she told him to kill me and I overwhelmed then left to go cry."

Rebekah looked back at Caroline through the rear view mirror most likely wondering why she left out the very significant part where Klaus exposed Tyler as an impulsive abuser to the Mikaelson family.

Caroline dismissed her glance and Stefan spoke up. "Esther told Klaus to kill you?" Rebekah and Caroline nodded simultaneously. "Intense."

"Then I went to sleep, had a horrible nightmare and Klaus came to cheer me up, then we fell asleep together-"

"You slept with my brother?!" Rebekah choked out in utter bewilderment before she whipped around to face Caroline, using her hands to steady herself.

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah," Stefan started before his date could say anymore, a bit terrified that his leather car seat would be torn up by her perfectly manicured nails. "I don't think you're taking the information in the right way, Rebekah. Care was saying that they fell asleep in the same bed, nothing more I'm guessing?"

Shocked and betrayed by the genuine question in his statement, Caroline scoffed at his cocked eyebrow in the rear mirror. "Seriously?" She exclaimed. "Duh! I wouldn't sleep with Klaus if he was the last male on the planet! I rather have someone stick pliers in my back for heart surgery than have sex with that son of a bitch."

That statement wasn't entirely true, there was a bit of exaggeration here and there. Caroline would sleep with him if it was necessary for human survival. She'd also sleep with him if he was one of the last one hundred people on Earth. If Caroline wanted to be honest with herself, she'd sleep with him now... if Tyler wasn't a thing and she liked Klaus that way, which Caroline told herself she did not.

"Calm down you two," Rebekah scowled. "I was only caught off guard because you always act as if you put a restraining order Nik, Caroline."

"Seriously? I do not!" That was another one of Caroline's bad quality lies. "We've slept beside each other a ton in that shitty, nightmarish rainforest and it changes nothing between us. He keeps to himself, I keep to myself, it's fine."

"No funny business," Stefan added while nodding with his lips pursed.

"Exactly."

It seemed like Rebekah was thinking of letting the topic go, but unfortunately for Caroline, her crappy luck wasn't going to let Rebekah leave her alone. "What does Nik have to say about sleeping with his beloved, also known as you?"

As the memory of Klaus telling Caroline what she did to him in her sleep, she felt her ears get hotter than usual and looked out the window to hide the blush creeping on her cheeks. "Can I just finish catching Stefan up so I can tell you guys what's happening with Klaus?"

"I think it would best for my vehicle's safety if Rebekah didn't live through all those events a second time," Stefan stated through quick glances towards where Rebekah's nails made contact with his car. "Just tell us what's going on with you and Klaus?"

"Well, he's acting normal..." Caroline started before she realized how stupid the words sounded.

"What's wrong with normal?"

"No, not normal for him. Like _normal_, normal, like a regular good mannered guy. Like you Stefan. I mean this morning, he didn't call me love or sweetheart or anything like that. Just Caroline. Every single time. Klaus also didn't make one dirty remark even when our partially naked bodies were all hot and sweaty and pressed up against each other-"

"I think we should stop there," Stefan suggested after clearing his throat. "Are you sure he's the only obsessed one in the strange relationship you call a friendship?"

With an eye roll, Caroline said, "yes. I'm sorry I got caught up, but I'm telling you, it's not normal."

"Wow," Rebekah nodded, "my brother finally acts like a decent human being and all the sudden he's the worst person on the planet."

"Why is he acting too normal for you?" Stefan questioned.

"Yesterday," the troubled blonde sighed, "I kind of, sorta blew up at him because..."

"Because?"

"Because he was hanging out with this bitch Camille that might actually be a nice person but I'm not sure because I might've overreacted a teeny bit when she pushed past me when I was arguing with Klaus because he finally admitted that he liked me as more than a friend. I already knew he liked me but I just thought he wanted to fuck me, but he told me I was beautiful and strong and full of light and I was overwhelmed. Then I stormed out and came back way late in the night only to see him with Camille again. Then he tried to work out our problems but I told him to fuck off and not to call me sweetheart or love or anything. Then when he didn't leave I told him that his dad didn't love him. Now he's acting like nothing happened."

"Oh..."

Rebekah winced and cursed under her breath. "Nik usually doesn't react like that, he lashes out immediately then slyly convinces the victims of his terror for forgiveness. Nik is most likely bottling up his frustration and such because making you leave him is the last thing he wants to do." Caroline nodded trying to draw her attention to Rebekah's words of wisdom and away from the thought of how much she hurt Klaus. "It's either that or he wants to rid whatever you feel about him. Friendship and all so you gradually forget about him."

"Maybe it's both," Stefan suggested before a silent rest of the ride.

It was both. Klaus wanted her, but thought he was too dangerous to be around. Their fight just finalized his decision to separate from her. The thought of never having to communicate with Klaus again was supposed to be appealing, then she wouldn't have to feel bad about Tyler. Then why did Caroline feel like her heart was going to break?

...

"Care!" Elena shouted from across The Grill, waving her arms psychotically as Caroline entered. She was still grinning like a maniac when Caroline made her way to the pool table. Her brunette friend threw her arms around her neck, throwing her a little off balance. "I'm so glad you could make it."

"Elena," Caroline shook her head with sarcastic disappointment as she pulled away from her overly excited friend, "are you drunk already?"

"Just a little tipsy," Elena rolled her eyes before leading Caroline to pick up a pool stick. "I really am happy that you're here. I thought after your fight with Klaus, you might've decided not to come."

"My what?" Caroline asked confused. She didn't tell Elena about her and Klaus.

"Hey Care," Bonnie smiled, emerging from behind Elena with a half filled glass of bourbon in hand and interrupting her. "What's new?"

"Nothing much..."

"Damon told me about your fight with Klaus." Bonnie looked like she wanted to sigh sympathetically, but she only pursed her lips and crossed her arms. "Are you okay? I know how frustrated you were with him yesterday. I hope you're not too shaken up, are you?"

Caroline wanted to growl Damon's name and slap the sly smirk off of his face, but instead she said, "I'm fine," and excused herself. A pissed off Caroline made her way towards Damon on the other side of the pool table. He was chatting with another dark haired guy. She stood behind him for a second, tapping her foot occasionally, trying to grab his attention.

After what seemed like forever, the other dark haired man nudged Damon's side. "I think there's a seemingly angry blonde checking you out," he said in a failed attempt of a whisper.

Damon put down his pool stick and turned around, "hey Care Bear, if you're checking me out, I really don't feel like going down memory lane and rekindling the flames from the dark ages. Though Elena is wasted now, my girlfriend would _waste us_ if she found you in my bed."

"Seriously?! You and I have a problem-"

"I don't think I convinced the authorities to deport you back to Barbie Girl World yet..."

"-I am doing anything _but_ checking _you_ out." Caroline pushed out through gritted teeth, ignoring his statement.

"If that's the case love..." the dark haired man said suggestively.

"That _is_ the case and I have a boyfriend."

"I was only joking Goldilocks, I have my eyes set on someone as well, so you don't need to waste your precious time on me."

Caroline rolled her blue eyes at the name Goldilocks, "and you are?"

"Lorenzo St. John, Enzo for short. A pleasure love."

"Caroline Forbes," Caroline barely made out with Damon smirking at Bonnie and waving at her. "Now I suggest you go talk to the person that you have your eyes set on so I can try not to shove your friend's eyes into their sockets."

"Gladly," Enzo stalked off, leaving Caroline and the dark haired Salvatore alone.

In a hushed whisper-shout, the more than annoyed blonde began interrogating Damon through gritted teeth. "How do you know about what happened between me and Klaus? Don't tell me you we're eavesdropping on us?"

"Calm down blondie," Damon rolled his eyes with a face that screamed 'Seriously'. "I remembered to put on my dignity badge that night and I stayed at the boarding house with Elena. So there was no possible way I was eavesdropping on you two."

"Then how do you know about...it?"

"My sources were up close and personal to your chit chat with the big bad British wolfie. The big bad British wolfie himself."

Caroline's jaw dropped. There was no way Klaus would voluntarily talk to Damon of all people about their argument of all things.

"Don't act so surprised. He just wanted some advice from _the_ ladies man," Damon cracked a grin and downed a nearby glass of bourbon.

With an eye roll, Caroline crossed her arms at his statement. "Klaus is a ladies man too and I'm pretty sure he and every other woman on the damn planet doesn't need you making him even worse."

"Nah, ah, ah," Damon sung before clicking his tongue, "he asked me how I convinced Elena to love me even though I'm a _really_ bad person. So obviously I didn't tell him my secret, he just had to look at me, who could resist." Caroline almost gagged. "Then I told him Elena made me a better person. Then I told Bonnie. Then Bonnie told Elena. There's nothing to worry about though, they won't go telling anyone else. But beware Blondie, you might have a Papa Bear named Klaus on your back now."

"Ugh," Caroline huffed and Elena bounced over to Damon.

"Hey stranger," Elena smiled and he replied by placing a kiss on her lips. Elena gave a half filled glass of bourbon to her friend and Caroline downed it immediately, trying to get rid of the picture of Klaus burned into her mind.

Caroline would be lying to herself if she said she wasn't jealous of Elena and Damon's love for each other. It was so passionate and strong and _real_. Not that her and Tyler's relationship and love wasn't, it was great. Amazing. Was it wrong to want more?

"Where's Stefan?" Elena asked curiously while Damon guided her into the proper position to hit the cue ball. "He hasn't come in yet and I thought he drove you."

"Don't worry about ol' Stef," Damon kissed Elena's cheek before positioning the pool stick. "He's probably getting his hero hair touched up by Barbie Klaus after a long, sexy make out session."

"Rebekah's here?!" Elena spat in disbelief as she shoved Damon off of her. The look on Damon's face asked her if she was serious. "I told Stefan she was a bad person to get involved with. Did he just ignore everything I tried to warn him about?"

Caroline had no clue why Elena and Rebekah hated each other like cats and dogs and she really didn't want to be around when they started arguing and looked for people to take sides. "Excuse me."

As she was escaping, Caroline coincidentally found Rebekah entering The Grill with Stefan. She hurried to meet them. When they finally met, Caroline noticed Rebekah's eyes were puffier than usual.

_Was she crying before she came here? Is that why they were so late?_ Caroline thought with concern for Rebekah.

"Hey Stefan," Caroline nodded before rubbing Rebekah's arm comfortingly. Now Rebekah was wearing tight black leather pants, a black tank top and a sleeveless olive green cardigan with black flats. "Are you okay? What happened to your blue dress?"

"I closed the door on it like a clown and one the delicate seams ripped. Stefan so generously drove me to a nearby retail store and I got this." Rebekah gestured toward her outfit. "Then Elijah called me and told me about some classified information. I was just a little overwhelmed, a few tears fell out at most." She rolled her eyes and scowled, "I hated that stupid blue dress anyway. Now, we came here to drink did we not? Stefan?"

Caroline wondered what classified information overwhelmed Rebekah to the point of crying. It had to be something about TVD or it wouldn't be classified. It could also be about the Mikaelsons. What if Esther was trying to kill her again? Maybe that's she was crying? If she could just punch that no good motherly bitch one time-

Stefan took Rebekah's held out hand with raised eyebrows and led her and Caroline to the pool table where her friends hung around.

"Hey Stef, Sexy Bex." Damon nodded with a smirk before hitting the cue ball with expertise.

Caroline spotted Elena glaring at Rebekah prior to greetings and she sighed. "Elena, don't you have something to say?"

"Hi Stefan," she started with a smile and Caroline knew from that point on, it was going downhill. "Rebekah. How's your back?"

"Perfect now. Except for the scar where you attempted to plunge a knife into my heart from behind me you bitch!"

"Okay, I think you need a drink or two or three Rebekah." Stefan suggested trying to pull Rebekah away from ripping Elena's hair out.

"You know it wasn't my fault, Rebekah!" Elena said, raising her voice. "I heard something upstairs so I got a knife to protect myself. It wouldn't have happened if you weren't in the guest room, uninvited. I thought you were an intruder."

"Yeah an unarmed _intruder_ in a sexy red dress putting on a necklace has all the qualifications to have a knife jammed into her back. Ever try using your words, Elena? Were you mute or just as dumb as a bloody doorknob?" Rebekah snarled. "I spent one week in that hell they call a hospital and I couldn't go on missions for a month!"

"That gave you no right to run me and Matt off a bridge!" Elena lunged for Rebekah and Damon rolled his eyes as he scooped her up. "Let me go! I can take that bitch!" Elena yelled kicking and pounding as Damon threw her over his shoulder.

"Nope, you're wasted. Time to go home warrior princess. Bye Stef, see ya Blondie. I don't want to, I most likely will see you she-devil as you sneak out of our house after a long sweaty round of sex with Stefano here. One of you tell Bonnie I said bye." Damon swiftly finished his drink and left.

Every went back normal after that or at least Caroline thought it did. She had a few more drinks. A few meant a few shots, a few glasses of bourbon from a very generous bartender. Then, Caroline forgot what she drank, she was way too drunk to remember. Though she denied it and told herself she was just having fun, Caroline was drinking to take Klaus's undeniably attractive face out of her mind. She wanted to see him and apologize and talk so bad, but it was clear he wanted nothing to do with her.

While dancing across the Grill, Caroline bumped into Bonnie who had three shots of tequila. Without asking, she downed two of them in a second. The amber liquid burned her throat and Caroline felt so drunk, she couldn't even register what she just did. "Thanks Bon."

Bonnie groaned and snatched the two empty shot glasses from her hands. "Are you kidding me Care?" Her voice sounded exasperated. "Those were for me and Jeremy."

"Does Elena know?" She whispered after a way exaggerated gasp.

"Come on?" Her tone sounded annoyed and tired. "You think Elena doesn't know her little brother is hitting on me?"

"Are you hitting back was the question." Caroline slurred with a Cheshire grin.

Bonnie rolled her eyes with a smiled and looked away bashfully, but Caroline barely noticed. "I don't know. I mean I don't think I can. There's also Kol and him and Kol are best friends."

"So then I'm guessing the third drink is for him?" Caroline asked, absolutely forgetting who was invited to the Grill drinking session.

"No, it's for a super hot guy I met. His name is Enzo. He told me that someone with curled blonde hair and fiery blue eyes who was mad at Damon told him to talk to me, but I'm guessing you don't remember, drunkard." Bonnie's eyes were smiling at her until she put down the shot glasses. "We're starting the toasts for Tyler. I can get more shots and you can go join Stefan and Jeremy and Enzo and Matt and Elena in the spirit. I'll be right there and even though what he did was way wrong and I don't support it. Unless you're going to the boarding house now. Who's taking you? Stefan?"

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. Don't call Stefan, please don't call Stefan. He and Rebekah are having so much fun and I don't want to ruin their fun," Caroline hyperventilated. It was getting really hot in there. Caroline was overwhelmed with everything about Klaus and her head was spinning. Her eyes watered and she pressed her palms to stop the tears. "It's their first date and I can't ruin it because I got drunk like an idiot."

"Hey Care, calm down," Bonnie said while motioning someone over to the two. "Stefan and Rebekah will have their fun, Matt can drive you home."

"Can he?" Caroline croaked hopefully looking up at her.

"Sure can," Matt smiled down on her. "And I'm sober, so responsible guy that's sober driving his drunk friend home. That sounds like a good combination."

"Thanks," she smiled gratefully with a chuckle at his bad attempt at a joke as Matt took her in his arms bridal style. She wrapped her arms around his neck and said bye to Bonnie.

As they left the Grill, Caroline's mom and two other men met them at the door, fully dressed it police attire. "Sheriff Forbes, what are you doing here?"

"Hello Matt and Caroline. We're here because there was an attempted robbery and the suspect might of been drunk so we're trying to figure out if any bartenders recognize him."

"Hi mommy!" Caroline grinned through squinted eyes.

"Is she drunk?"

"As a skunk," she admitted playfully.

"You're sober right?"

"Yes ma'am." Matt smiled, "I'll take her to her place safely."

"Thank you so much," Liz looked past Matt, into the Grill. "I've got work to do right now, but I'll be seeing you. Goodnight."

"Night Sheriff."

Matt loaded the drunk blonde into the passenger seat of the car and put her seatbelt on. "So to the Boarding House?"

Caroline shook her head and made a disapproving sound, "Klaus. I need to be with Klaus."

"Are you sure Care? I've heard the stories, I've heard your story and Klaus seems like a kind of suspicious guy. I don't think I should leave you alone with him. Especially when you're drunk."

"Please, I need to see him..."

Before Matt could object again, Caroline was already passed out cold.

* * *

A knock on the front door was what broke Klaus's thought process. He had agreed to go to New Orleans and assist them with their dilemma. Elijah called Rebekah to inform her that he would be departing soon. She went ballistic and begged Elijah to make Klaus stay or let her go with him. He agreed to none.

Klaus had been in the kitchen getting a drink of water to try to sleep easier, knowing it wasn't going to work. Every time he closed his eyes either his dead father or thoughts of leaving Caroline would flood his mind. So the knock on the door seemed like an answered prayer from God.

While walking towards the front door, Klaus scratched his bare chest as he wondered who would show up at the Mikaelson Estate in the middle of the devil's hour. He desperately wished it was not Cami. She was now a walking reminder of what he was leaving behind. No amount of bourbon would change that.

As he put his hand on the doorknob, Klaus's ear picked up a familiar moan. A very feminine moan. Caroline. Klaus threw the door open to reveal Caroline nuzzling the new trainee she greeted while training. He held her protectively in his arms and glared at Klaus with hard eyes.

"Now what do we have here?" Klaus smirked at the two of them, hiding his immense jealousy behind a dickish smile. Caroline tucked her nose in the crook of her friend's neck and Klaus almost lunged in to tear her from his embrace.

Instead of Caroline replying with a snappy response like usual, she remained smiling into the young man's shoulder. "Look, I don't want to stay here for long, I have another friend waiting for me back in Mystic Falls and I gotta be there soon. Caroline is drunk. She's a little more sober now than before, but still, drunk. So giving her to a top notch assassin who is obsessed with her was not my idea."

Klaus peered at Caroline closely as her eyes fluttered open and fixed on her friend's face. Her beauty was so authentic, she looked outstanding every moment of every day, even at three in the morning. "I don't blame you, but that does not explain why are you here, quarterback?"

"I tried to drop her off at the Salvatore's house, but she wouldn't stay in no matter how hard I tried. I tried to put her in her room here, but Katherine's too busy to buzz me in. The rest of her friends are at the Grill in Mystic Falls." The guy reluctantly let her go and embraced Caroline as if it was their final moments together. "I hate doing this and I'd hate myself forever if anything happens to her. So, I swear to god, if you hurt her, I'll spend the rest of my life making yours a living hell."

"Such big words for someone with so little potential," Klaus stated while refraining himself from laughing. Caroline slipped out of the guy's grasp and made her way towards Klaus. She snuck her arms under his and held onto his upper back tightly. Unknowingly, he exhaled finally being able to breathe. Klaus had to admit he was relieved that Caroline wasn't angry with him, for dealing with an angry, drunk Caroline was the last thing he wanted to do. "Don't worry about what we'll be doing," Klaus continued as he combed the blonde's hair with his fingers. "We've slept together a number of times.

After he slammed the door on the delivery boy, Caroline let go of him as slowly as humanly possible. It was as if she was tempting Klaus to give in and stop her. The way she gazed at him with those eyes full of emotion, he wanted nothing more than to take her right there and claim her as his own.

After giving her tea and one of Rebekah's much too sugary cinnamon buns to help out with the process of sobering, he took her up to the guest room carefully and closed the door behind them. He placed a hand on the side of her face and thought of how his lip would feel on hers as he studied her facial features. Reminding himself to 'snap out of it', Klaus finally asked the question flying around his mind. "Why have you come here Caroline? Are you not suppose to be having fun and drinking to Tyler's return?"

"I," she paused, "I needed to be with you tonight." Klaus gave her a questioning look and she motioned towards the bed. Klaus forced the less than innocent thoughts back down as Caroline removed her jacket, revealing her most of her upper back along with her arms. "I'm just gonna grab some pyjamas for myself from Rebekah's room."

Caroline left Klaus alone in the guest room for a few minutes with nothing but his thoughts. Why would she want to be with him instead of toasting to Tyler? Every time she decided to start running her mouth, it was usually focused on Tyler Lockwood. Perhaps Caroline finally gave in to the deepest and darkest desires hidden in the most forsaken parts of her heart.

"Hey, listen. I came here because I felt like you were the only one I could talk to." Klaus eyed one of the sleeves on Caroline's lavender nightgown that was identical to the one she wore two nights ago fall down her shoulder. Caroline led him to the bed and sat down on the edge. She took a few shaky breaths without saying anything. "It was too much for me. Everything about Tyler. Elena was as drunk as I am, Damon took her home, Bonnie was flirting with Jeremy and some other guy. God, I can't think at all."

"Are you okay, love?" Klaus silently cursed at himself. It had slipped his mind, Caroline didn't like pet names anymore.

Shaking her head at his question, Klaus assumed Caroline didn't seem to notice, she was too busy tapping her thigh like she did at the dinner. A coping strategy when she was nervous or stressed. "I couldn't focus on him because of you."

Klaus didn't quite catch on to what she was getting at. After the fiasco that happened the previous day, there would be no chance in the flaming depths of hell she would admit the chemistry between them. If she was going to confess, Klaus would do anything but mind, he had already told Caroline that he was immensely attracted to her.

"I couldn't focus on anything because of you. I couldn't think of anything _but_ you," Caroline tore her gaze away from the floor and set it right at him. "I was scared and I'm still scared."

Of course Caroline was scared of Klaus. It wasn't a surprise. Behind her snappy insults and preppy attitude, there had to be fear lurking inside her. Everyone felt fear towards him if nothing else. If Klaus was weak and simple minded, he would've said it was painful when every soul that knew about him feared him. Klaus would say, when Caroline said she was afraid of him. It hurt more because once he believed she thought of him as a human being. But he was anything but weak and simple minded. Caroline had the right idea in mind to fear him, it would be easier to leave her.

"As you should be," Klaus said with as little emotion as possible while he stood up.

"No!" Caroline shouted and looked up at him pleadingly before softening her voice again, "don't leave. You can't just walk away when I'm not done yet. So please." Klaus sat back down slowly, making an obvious space gap between them. "I'm not afraid of you Klaus. Maybe I am, but not in the way you think. I don't think you're a monster. I think you're human with human feelings and you try to cover them up because you think they make you weak."

The extent of her naivety sent a sly smirk to his lips. "Feelings _do_ make you weak when you're an assassin. Especially ones of the romantic category. They distract you and send you towards your ultimate demise leaving no protection for the one who made you feel that way."

"You're not just an assassin, Klaus-"

"You're spot on Caroline. I am _the_ assassin and if someone gets in my way then I rid of them. Friend or enemy. That's the reason got I rid of Camille," Klaus muttered.

"You're also an amazing brother to Elijah, Kol and Rebekah. Maybe you're a good brother to Finn and Freya too. A son your mother is proud of and a friend to me. Klaus, I know you're in love with me or real close it and if you can love then you're not a monster. So if you're going to get rid of me like Camille then you're in for disappointment."

In love with? Those words fit what he felt better than any others.

"Why are you afraid?"

"Because I ruined everything between us. I always overreact and last night I took it too far with mentioning Tatia and your dad. Even though I had no idea that today was the anniversary of your dad's death that doesn't make what I said right. I am so sorry for everything Klaus and I'm scared because you want nothing to do with and you want me to forget about you-"

Klaus 'shh'ed Caroline and brushed the hair out of her face, "now who is the one responsible for putting these absurd ideas in that imaginative little head of yours?"

"Rebekah said that you could be bottling up your anger so you won't push me away from you or you want me to forget about our friendship." Caroline laid down on the bed and closed her eyes.

Klaus thought about New Orleans and pondered on the idea of convincing her to do as Rebekah suggested he was already doing. There was no unambiguous date of his return and having Caroline accompany him was too dangerous with her stubborn tendencies and The Other Side lurking beneath the shadows of the crowds of New Orleans. It would be pointless for Caroline to wait for Klaus.

"I think you need to sleep the alcohol out of your fragile system. The food didn't seem to work as effectively," Klaus remarked as he stood from the bed.

"Klaus?" Caroline began to ask, "stay with me?"

"Do you prefer coincidence or déjà vu?" Klaus smiled cockily as she got under the blanket and held it up for him to lay beside her.

Even though Caroline chose to face the wall for face to face seemed to be more intimate than her arse grinding on him, she still found a way to curl into him and Klaus felt it was anything but not acceptable to wrap his arms around her waist if she was making such the effort. "No matter what," Caroline sighed sleepily, "I'll never forget you."


	13. Chapter 13

Hi, this is another long chapter. I think that the next one will be too. Please favourite, follow and review this story. I love hearing back from you! Read on!

* * *

"Miss Forbes, we have much to discuss." Elijah said once she walked out of the front door and she jumped at his words.

"Oh it's just you Elijah, you scared me," Caroline gasped.

Caroline had one of the worst hangovers of her life that morning. Luckily, she didn't throw up when she was escaping the Mikaelson's house because that would be super embarrassing, especially with Klaus laughing at her.

When Klaus woke her up, Caroline took a ton of aspirin and basically ran out the house and all the way to hers while trying to piece together what happened after she got drunk. Once Katherine buzzed her in after what seemed like days, Caroline remembered most of the events that happened the prior night. How she drank a shit ton of tequila, then she kept on thinking about Klaus, then Matt drove her to Klaus, they talked, well she mostly talked and Klaus listened. Then she and Klaus fell asleep together.

Caroline quickly showered and got ready for training. She put on a loose purple tank top over a black sports bra and simple black shorts before running out of the front doors where she was scared by Elijah.

"What is there to discuss? Am I in trouble? I know Elena and Matt and Jeremy must be way ahead of me but Klaus told me I was totally on the ball yesterday."

"Walk with me. No you are not in any sort of trouble that concerns me. I know Niklaus did not say that about you but I'll disregard it because..." Elijah paused, "I would rather not repeat your words."

Caroline giggled and muttered, "I wonder how you deal with Katherine," as she began to walk with Elijah towards the tall building where Bonnie and the other witches worked.

"I can hear you Miss Forbes and I deal with Katherina because I love her and I would sacrifice anything for her joy." Elijah told her as he smiled with a hint of that famous Mikaelson smirk.

Katherine was telling the truth about not just fucking Elijah while they were driving to that boutique. The confidence in his voice with traces of passion in his words. She loved him and he loved her too.

"I told you you don't have to be so formal with me. I feel like you're an angry teacher when you call me Miss Forbes. Caroline is fine."

"Whatever you deem comfortable," Elijah sighed as they approached the enormous building. Caroline remembered the fight between her and Klaus and secretly wished she wouldn't run into Camille for whatever reason they were going there.

"So what do you want to talk about with me of all people?"

"I need to ask you a favour. Have you and Niklaus spoken about the decision he made yesterday?" Elijah asked.

"What decision? Klaus hasn't told me anything about a decision." That was most likely because she was pass out drunk when they talked again. "He didn't really have a chance to when we talked last night."

Elijah didn't reply immediately, "Niklaus will not be pleased if I tell you and I would hate for him to overreact it's quite irritating. I assume you're more than capable to take matters into your own hands."

"Yeah I'll talk to him," Caroline said with a hint of worry. Klaus had tons of secrets that she had no idea about, but Elijah thought she should know this already. Even though they didn't talk a lot in the morning, there were times he could've said something. "Now what favour did you want?

"I read over your file for TVD," Elijah started. "You were Miss Mystic Falls, an honour student, captain of your school's cheerleaders, head of the Go Green campaign, and most importantly head of Mystic Falls' dance and events committee."

"Actually most important would have to Miss Mystic Falls. Not to be insensitive but I had to compete with Elena's sob story about following her dead mom's legacy and she danced with Damon Salvatore. I don't even remember my date's name. But don't worry, I still love her more than the-"

"Caroline, if you refrain from interrupting me we can get through this faster."

"Sorry," Caroline apologized in a whisper but smiled when she saw a small smile on Elijah's face. She thought Elijah completely hated her the first time they met. Now that she sort of got to know him, it was obvious he wasn't that cold all the time.

"My mother desires to host a formal ball in honour of Niklaus," Elijah began, "but because she is occupied with some complications that recently came to the surface, a meeting with Silas and all that is associated with Niklaus, she is unable to plan it herself. Would you be interested in preparing it in her place?"

"Are you serious?! Of course I'm interested!" Caroline squealed while clapping excitedly. That was the only thing Caroline was absolutely confident she could do properly ever since she got to TVD. "Finally, something I'm great at!" Caroline gave Elijah a quick hug while already starting to brainstorm ideas. "Thank you so much for this giving me opportunity. I promise I won't let you down."

Elijah straightened out his suit's cuffs and adjusted his tie. "I don't expect to be disappointed. I've reviewed your work."

Caroline thanked him as he opened the glass door for her and followed behind closely. "Wait, why are we here again?"

"Take my hand, Caroline." She listened. Swiftly, Elijah manoeuvred through all the people and lead her into a full elevator that was about to leave. He let go of her hand to press the button that would take them to the fifth floor. "I apologize for the inconvenience, but it would be a nuisance if you were swept away with the crowd. To answer your question, were are here regarding Bonnie Bennett and her team's discovery on Tyler Lockwood's location."

As those words left his mouth, Caroline's heart stopped. _Seriously?! This is unbelievable! It's like impossible! Bonnie found Tyler?! My Tyler! Oh my god! It's been a week and a half since I've last seen him and Bonnie now knows where he is. Tyler is alive and well and waiting for me to save him! I can finally kiss him and hug him and be with him again! _

"My siblings, Kol, Rebekah and Niklaus are already with her discussing strategies," Elijah continued and Caroline's heart suddenly sunk. After Klaus got the information he needed from Tyler, he would be dead.

Caroline didn't say anything and was glad Elijah didn't either.

_I know Klaus and I haven't done anything wrong, or more accurately, I haven't agreed with the very wrong things Klaus wants to do, but either way, if Tyler finds out about everything that happened, it won't end well. Tyler always gets so jealous and when he's jealous he's mad. He might try to egg on Klaus and Klaus might just kill him for it because of his amazing temper. Then Tyler will be gone again. Forever. No matter how much I hate what he did to me, I know he can change for the better and I would never want him to die!_

The elevator dinged and Elijah lead her out of it and into a huge office. They made their way through desks and small offices to a room with reflective glass walls in the corner of the office. Caroline didn't see a door and remembered the magic Klaus showed her the other day. Elijah pressed his hand against a wall and a door appeared.

When they entered, Bonnie was sitting in a chair in front of three computers while Kol and Klaus were hovering over her and Rebekah was leaning against the window wall that looked out to the front of the building. "Bonnie!"

Bonnie looked up at her and her face lit up. "Hey Care, I'm glad Matt got you home safely last night. When you weren't at the Salvatore's, I was a little worried. Thanks for bringing her Elijah." Bonnie motioned for them to come over.

"Hey Rebekah," Caroline waved and Rebekah gave her a small smile back.

"Caroline, you pretty little thing," Kol grinned mischievously. "Every time I see you, you just get more and more gorgeous. Let's go out for a drink today."

"Kol," Bonnie and Klaus both growled in unison.

"Bonnie Bennett," Kol smiled wickedly. "I knew you would fall right into my trap. Even though you deny it over and over, I am just too irresistible, aren't I? You couldn't help but feel jealous when my attention was divided. I apologize for your distress." Kol placed a kiss on the top of Bonnie's head and she swatted him away.

"I am not jealous of you scaring Caroline, I just don't want you preying on my friends. It's creepy if you haven't caught on yet," Bonnie rolled her eyes.

"I can understand why Bonnie was jealous that my attention was divided as she should be-"

"Kol..." Bonnie said in a warning tone.

"-but you Nik, you have no reason to be jealous. You may fancy her but the feeling looks less than mutual and to top it off, Bonnie just found her boyfriend so now you have no chance of sweeping her off her feet."

Caroline wanted to stand up for Klaus, but what would she say? He still has a chance with her? In reality, the only thing Caroline and Klaus were going to be was friends. Once she got a hold of Tyler, she told herself that she wouldn't give Klaus a second thought. If Klaus killed Tyler, Caroline could never forgive him. Caroline didn't even like Klaus the way he liked her, so there was nothing to say.

"Oh shut it Kol," Rebekah sneered, "it's not any of your bloody business and the last thing I want to do is to help Elijah rip you two apart. Let's focus on catching this bloody bastard and getting back our-"

"Our sister is right." Elijah turned to Rebekah with half a smile, "I couldn't have said it better Rebekah. But let's not taint Tyler's image for Caroline until we capture him."

Caroline looked at Klaus to make sure he wasn't going to rip Kol's head off for what he said. Klaus caught her before she could look away and she cleared her throat, "so Bonnie, what's happening? Please don't tell me he's in the Amazon."

"Don't worry Care he's nowhere near the Amazon," Bonnie reassured her and she sighed in relief. "I was just about to tell Klaus, Kol and Rebekah what I think happened until you and Elijah came in."

"Please," Elijah encouraged.

"Okay, so Klaus threw the explosive too early and I think Tyler jumped out of the car right when it blew up. The nearest airport was roughly a hundred and fifty miles away and the minimum damage Tyler could take was pieces of glass stuck in him like there was in Caroline."

"Caroline could still walk with glass buried three inches into her calf which penetrated a quarter inch into her muscle," Klaus informed them.

"Either Tyler would've thought the pain was nothing or Caroline has a remarkable tolerance for excruciating pain," Elijah noted.

"Thank you?" Caroline said unsurely, "but I think the first option is more accurate."

"And you are sure of that because? I believe it was Stefan that I was on a mission with and he had a piece of glass in his thigh and it took him double the time to get back."

"I'm not sure of anything. I also don't know about Tyler and getting hurt. I've never seen him really get hurt ever. I just know I couldn't endure anything that _you_ think is that bad."

"If we're going with the theory that Tyler jumped out of a car, it makes sense that he sprained his ankle," Bonnie continued and left no room for people to ask how she knew that. "I'll get to that part. What doesn't make sense is that it takes around twenty minutes to walk a mile. So if the airport was a hundred and fifty miles away, it would take approximately two days without an injury, sleeping or eating. So let's say it took him three days."

"That makes sense," Caroline shrugged. "Tyler didn't waste any time and still had his sense of direction. I screwed up me and Klaus's chances of getting out in good time."

"You got out in great time love," Kol remarked. "With me and Damon's rescue of course."

Rebekah hit his arm playfully, "do you always have to be so full of yourself?"

Bonnie sighed with an eye roll, "I'm not done guys, don't start fighting yet. I did a little digging right? And Tyler bought a one way plane ticket at 11:51pm on October 10th and left at 12:37am on October 11th."

Caroline stopped her. "Wait wait wait wait wait. He basically got out the same day?" Bonnie nodded. "Seriously? Like thirty minutes into the day after my birthday?" Bonnie nodded again. "That makes no fucking sense!"

"Exactly. Someone had to be waiting for him, most likely at the nearby bathroom break station to drive him to the airport."

"Where did Tyler go?" Klaus questioned impatiently.

"Pennsylvania. He checked into a hospital in Pittsburgh and got some things for his ankle recovery. Then he rented a car and drove from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia and checked into a hotel at eight with three others. They all got separate rooms and I'm guessing they were the ones that picked him up in the Amazon because they had the same flight."

"What are they doing with him? He could be in danger! I have to go get him, now!" Caroline decided.

"There is no need to rush in irrationally," Elijah told her, "what we need is a plan. Rate this mission's level of difficulty for a Mikaelson, Bonnie."

"Medium, not too hard but Tyler has gotten away a ton according to you so you have to be on your toes. It's just go in, get Tyler and get out. You need to be stealthy, quick and maybe a little deceitful. You need a driver, two people to get Tyler, possibly a look out for the three other guys that could be working for him and a back catcher. Who is going to get him?"

"I am!" Kol announced and Bonnie told him to shut the fuck up. "What why not?"

"We don't need you to start hitting on hotel staff, Kol."

Kol paused and smiled, "is that jealousy radiating off you Bonnie Bennett?"

"Kol we can't have you blowing cover or throwing the mission off the train tracks because you saw a quick fuck," Rebekah sighed.

"I can be the getaway driver and you can watch me as back catcher," Kol pleaded desperately, "you can make sure I don't get into any mischief."

"That is not a bad idea. Rebekah you would be a good look out. The three people that were traveling with Tyler are Jules Davison, Daniel Warren and Nate Nguyen.

"Daniel Warren?" Klaus asked. "That was one of my students. He took part in the Hybrid group I trained. Something's not right."

"Why?" Caroline queried with concern. "Why isn't it right Klaus?"

"I thought I killed them all."

"You told us you were positive that all of them were dead Nik," Rebekah stated sternly. "Mother scolded you for more than a week because you had killed twelve promising members. Why would you take that punishment if they weren't dead?"

"I left them in an old underground cellar drenched in gasoline with no way of escape and then set it on fire for Christ's sake!" Klaus exclaimed while throwing his hands up in exasperation. "Was it wrong of me to assume they'd perish?!"

Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose. "The next time you want to kill a group of people Niklaus I suggest you shoot them instead of this insanity."

"Why would someone you killed even know Tyler?" Caroline gasped, "he could be using Tyler to get to you Klaus!"

"I assure you that little orphan Lockwood is perfectly safe," Klaus closed his eyes and took a deep breath then opened them while letting it out. "The only explanation for this is that they're plotting against me. They're bound to be working with TOS as well."

"We can talk about this later, okay?" Bonnie nearly shouted in frustration. "Kol is going to be our driver, I'll be back catcher, Rebekah will be on look out and Klaus and Elijah will grab Tyler. Is that okay?"

"No," Caroline disagreed. "I'll go with Klaus to get Tyler. Elijah can help out Rebekah. I want to see him as soon as possible, I want to make sure he's safe. I don't want you to hurt him Klaus."

"Love it could be dangerous," Klaus answered, "you can stay with Bonnie and watch what we're doing from the cameras."

"I am going with you Klaus! You can't tell me otherwise, I won't change my mind! Bonnie said we might need some deception. I could lower Tyler out for you guys, then you don't have to take him that forcefully."

"Allow her to go with you Niklaus. We wouldn't want to cause any commotion. Caroline puts you at ease and the last thing we want is a schizophrenic killer yelling something along the lines of 'I'm coming to obliterate you Tyler Lockwood' at two am in the morning. Caroline's plan to lower Tyler out is a better one than barging in. How long until Tyler checks out of the hotel?" Elijah inquired.

"Tyler checks out in four days at eleven am, so it would be best if you went in three days in the middle of the night," Bonnie replied.

"Then it's settled," Caroline sighed, "I'm going to see my boyfriend."

* * *

"Klaus, wait!" Caroline yelled as she ran down the stairs after him. Klaus thought it was ludicrous for Caroline to put herself out there. Klaus had but only one training session with her and all of the sudden she thought she was top notch assassin material.

Klaus continued down all the stairs and began to make his way through the overly crowded lobby. Everything he did to keep her safe meant nothing to her as long as Tyler Lockwood was in the picture. "Klaus, talk to me!" She shouted again and he continued.

A hand grabbed his fingers as he walked out of the front doors and he dragged the owner with him. Once they were through, he pulled Caroline to the back of the building towards the hill they went to see the sunset days ago. Klaus had no intention of running into any of his brothers at the moment.

They walked in silence through the long grass, the bright morning sun shining on their backs with their fingers still intertwined. Caroline's behaviour was utterly inappropriate as she was with Tyler, but Klaus wouldn't bring it up if she refused to. Her aura was calm, but slightly irritated as if she was attempting to contain it. When they got to the top of the hill, Klaus pulled Caroline in front of him. "Yes sweetheart what do you want from me now?"

Caroline looked up at the sky and she threw her hands up in the air, breaking their physical connection. "Why don't you want me to go save my boyfriend?"

"It's just that love. You think you're saving him, when he can clearly protect himself considering he's in no danger!" Klaus pointed out. "You on the other hand, aren't yet skilled enough to fight off people like Daniel Warren. If the three of them are from The Other Side, you could get hurt."

"How do you know he's in no danger Klaus?!" Caroline shot back. "He could've been fucking kidnapped in the rainforest! They could be holding him hostage! If that is the case, I don't want the first face for him to see after what he's been through to be the person who wants him dead! I want him to see me."

"We're not going on a rescue mission sweetheart! We're stealing him from his luxury and holding him hostage until he gives my family answers. Then murder him quickly, or very slowly depending on how the interrogation," Klaus chuckled almost sinisterly, "and torture goes."

"You wanted to kill him in the rainforest," Caroline recalled. "What the hell changed Klaus? If you want to kill him so bad, why don't you just do it? Why do I have to suffer first? Letting me finally be with him just to rip him away from me."

Klaus paused and softened his tone, "I changed my mind after I met you. I couldn't bear to see you upset because of me as you were our first night in the rainforest."

Caroline lowered her voice as well, "so you decided to prolong my suffering? No matter how you say it Klaus, it- it sounds like total bullshit. I know you can't let it go, you can't let him go yet, but couldn't you just-"

"If this all you want to speak about, you certainly need to expand your conversational topics. It's always Tyler this, Tyler that, does it not bore you at times?"

"Seriously Klaus?! I'm trying to be mature by negotiating with you and being serious and you- you think that killing Tyler is one big joke! It's not! And sooner or later you're going to let him go!"

Devilishly, Klaus let himself grin, "I will let you go with me to fetch the dog, see, speak and perhaps even touch Tyler after we kidnap him, on one condition."

"And what is that?" Caroline inquired skeptically.

"Be creative love."

Caroline furrowed her brow and pressed her fingertip to her lower lip while humming quietly. Suddenly she gasped and snapped before pointing at Klaus. "I could colour coordinate your Henley's!" Klaus shook his head and she sighed. "Seriously? This isn't fair, this is so, totally rigged! You have everything, what could I do for you?"

Klaus let his eyes wander to the sky in mock thought as he folded his hands behind his back and subtly rocked from his heels to his toes. "A date."

"A date?"

"You're absolutely correct. I have everything I want, except you and I think a date balances the scale if you desire to see, speak, touch and most of all, accompany me in the capture of your significant other."

"Elijah said I could go and I know his insight is trustworthy because he's responsible... with anything other than screwing Katherine. Elijah also said you're hiding something from me," Caroline reported, "something Elijah thinks I should know. A big decision you made and I agree with him because you refuse to tell me about anything! You just show off your incredibly hot dimples and deflect my questions."

"Incredibly hot, Caroline?"

"Shut up okay?!" Caroline retorted with rose colouring her cheeks. "It just slipped out. This is about you hiding something that your brother thinks I should know."

Klaus let his smile slowly drop, "since when are you such good friends with Elijah?"

Elijah and Caroline had been all over each other that morning. Klaus watched them walk from her place of living to the building and they were conversing like old mates. Then Caroline embraced him and that was when he lost it. Both his brothers were now constantly immersed with her being.

"Seriously? What's that supposed to mean?"

"I saw you embracing him before entering the building," Klaus stated in a monotone voice, cloaking his jealousy. There wasn't an utter reason why Klaus should've been jealous. Elijah was perfectly content with Katerina and Caroline infatuated with her boyfriend, thinking that he's innocent and not a killer like the rest of them.

"Seriously?" She asked again, "it was a hug because I was excited he's letting me plan a party Esther's planning for you. Only I don't know what party I'm planning because you're keeping a secret from me."

Elijah was wrong, it wasn't Klaus's intent to keep his plans of departing a secret from his blonde friend, he intended to tell her, there just hadn't been a window of opportunity. "It's a goodbye party sweetheart."

"What? A goodbye party?" She questioned in confusion. "But you only have goodbye parties when someone is..."

"I'm leaving Virginia," Klaus told her. "I'm going back to New Orleans. Dig up some old roots, reconnect with old friends, rekindle old feelings."

Caroline stayed quiet for a while, perhaps she was wondering what to say. A smile was brought to his face as he noticed that Caroline might miss him. "New Orleans... Is that why Camille is here?"

"Yes, Cami wanted me back so bad she came to Virginia to fetch me herself," Klaus smirked and folded his hands behind his back. "I don't blame her, not a lot of women can resist."

"Oh," Caroline answered quietly. "So when are you leaving?"

"I'm not sure yet, but it will be after this irritating Tyler situation-"

"Are you leaving because I blew up at you after you told me that you feel something for?" Caroline interrupted frustratedly. "Because you can't just tell me something like that and expect me to-"

"I'm not leaving because you don't return my feelings Caroline," Klaus pushed a strand of her hair out of her face, "I believe myself to be a more patient man than that. But, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you're going to miss me."

"Why are you leaving?"

Klaus pondered on the idea of telling her why. Rebekah had told him she didn't tell Caroline when she had the chance so he assumed his mother had something to do with that. "It's a mission, my lips are sealed about what."

"Okay..." Caroline nodded slowly, "when are you coming back?"

"Who knows? Perhaps a month or a few months. It could be a year or a few years. All depending on how well it goes. Nevertheless it is a long term mission."

"A few years?" Caroline asked in disbelief, her wondrous blue eyes widening. "When are we going to see each other again?"

"Curious aren't we?"

"That's it? You're just going to leave me here all by myself?"

"There is Elena, Bonnie, Katerina, the Salvatore brothers, and my siblings to keep you company. It will be like I never even existed."

"No it won't," she sighed, "you've been all I know, all I'm used to since the hell-forest, since I came here."

"Sweetheart, believe your words are more than flattering especially because they usually can be quite derogatory. Nevertheless, if you're so attached to me, it might be better to go with Rebekah's idea. Forget about me for the time being. Then a pleasant surprise would be at hand when I return."

Caroline hesitated for a second, "take me with you."

He chuckled at her ambition and whispered, "Caroline you are preposterous."

"Is it dangerous? Are you targeting another assassin?"

"Yes love, it is dangerous," Klaus informed her. "You'd be bound to get hurt and my mind is full of enough horrid thoughts. There is no chance of coming with me."

Caroline closed her eyes with a stressed look exposing how she felt to Klaus, "how will I know if you're coming back?"

"We have yet to exchange numbers."

Caroline shook her head slowly and softly bit her lip. "No I mean, if you..."

Klaus told her to open her eyes as caressed her cheek with the back of his calloused fingers. Caroline's thick lashes parted as she listened to his instructions, but her blue orbs fell to the side instead of meeting his. She was exquisite and he hated to worry her no matter. "I assure you, I won't die. I've lived until this point and I don't intend to leave this wretched world until I experience all it's remarkable pleasures, including you Caroline." Caroline rolled her eyes and glanced at her feet before looking up at him. "So after all this nonsense worrying, I believe I am safe to assume that I am promised a date."

"For Tyler," Caroline reminded him.

"Of course. For little Lockwolf himself love."

* * *

"Hey Care, we're on our way back! Rebekah just parked Stefan's car, we have all the snacks and drinks everyone everyone wanted," Bonnie laughed.

Caroline expression clearly stated she was confused she sat down her bed with Elena and Katherine. "Why the hell are you so giddy?"

Elena snatched Caroline's phone out of her hands and Caroline rolled her eyes. "You're literally hanging out with the devil Bon, it shouldn't be an enjoyable experience. "

"How do you know she's such a devil, Elena?" Bonnie asked through fits of giggles.

"The devil wears Prada, simple." Katherine told her.

"Plus she ran me off a bridge!" Elena exclaimed.

"Mmm, I think Kat's point is more valid," Bonnie answered and the three girls heard the car door shut on the other end of the line.

"Bonnie Bennett is all giddy and excited because some-" Rebekah's shout was cut off by multiple shushes from Bonnie.

"Don't tell them," Bonnie scolded, "I'm saving it for BTT."

"What the hell is BTT?" Rebekah asked.

"Have you never been to a sleepover before?" Bonnie questioned back rhetorically. "Boy Talk Time!"

"Well I don't give two shits about your stupid boy talk. Bonnie-"

"Remember I was at the Salvatores-"

"Bonnie bloody Bennett! If you don't shut the fuck up-"

"Both of you shut up!" Caroline exclaimed. "Hurry up and get your asses over here! It's almost 1 am and you guys are as loud as a herd of goddamn... elephants! So come in before you get caught by Esther!" Caroline hung up the phone and sighed.

Elena huffed and rolled her eyes, "am I the only one who can't stand Rebekah?"

"Yep," Katherine replied as fast as lightning.

"Pretty much," Caroline followed immediately.

"How? She's completely evil! She put me and Matt's lives at risk because of some accident that was her fault. No one told me anyone would be at the Salvatore house and everything I did was total self defence!"

"Elena, you did stab her in the back without warning," Katherine shrugged. "Rebekah just wanted to get even. Both of you did lethal things to each other, but you're both alive so it doesn't matter to the rest of us."

"No more you and Rebekah hating each other out loud for tonight," Caroline ordered. "Got it? We are going to have an amazing slumber party full of fun and alcohol! So now, Rebekah bought me this nice 65 inch flat screen TV so let's choose a good movie to fall asleep to."

After Caroline and Klaus exchanged numbers, they walked back from the hill and she trained a shit ton. She learned sensitive points to hit when someone is stronger than you, Klaus taught how to punch her hardest and she even got to try it out on Kol. Then they started shooting practices. Her mom had taught her how to shoot a gun so it wasn't unfamiliar. This time, Klaus taught her how to shoot to kill, every time.

Caroline was exhausted at the very least and after she called Rebekah to talk about Klaus leaving, she suggested that all the girls should have a slumber party to cheer her up.

A buzz interrupted their scrolling through _Netflix _for a good movie to watch and Elena reluctantly got up to buzz them in. "While you're up Elena, could you get some plastic bowls and champagne glasses? We keep them in the far left cabinet. Thanks!"

"Okay Care!"

"So roomie," Katherine started after putting down the TV remote, "a little birdie told me that you're planning a goodbye party for the Big Bad Wolf. Is he going back to New Orleans?"

Caroline sadly smiled, "yeah. A long term mission."

"I'm surprised it took this long. I mean, Klaus is the king of the castle in New Orleans. Klaus was basically the ghost tyrant of the French Quarter. Literally no one knew if he was the real deal or just a myth. He's the legend type over there."

"Why did he come back to Virginia then?" Caroline queried.

Katherine sighed, "always and forever."

"Always and forever? What's that mean?"

"It's the Mikaelson family motto ask anyone. They put family above anything and no matter how much they hate each other, they'll always find their way back to each other, and they'll be there, forever." Katherine gagged while rolling her eyes, "ugh. Just emotional mumbo jumbo that I am not looking forward to when I get married to Elijah."

Caroline giggled, "that's great and all but what's even better is that you pretend not to be looking forward to it."

"Shut up you bitch," a sly smirk spread on Katherine's face, "you'll be joining soon enough."

Before Caroline could answer, Rebekah, Bonnie and Elena came into the room. "We're finally here!" Rebekah announced, junk food filling her arms.

"Hey Kat, Care," Bonnie smiled gratefully as Caroline took a bag full of candy off of Bonnie's hands.

"I know you missed us! Me especially."

"Hi, come sit," Caroline ordered as she motioned for Elena to hand her the bowls and once Elena did, she started pouring candy into them. "How was you guys' trip? Was it hard to find places open?"

"Yeah I guess, but the most stressful part was sneaking past the new guards Esther called in."

"Esther got guards?" Elena asked in disbelief, "since when?"

"Perhaps the past day or so," Rebekah shrugged as she took a seat on the bed. "Ever since my brother was caught trying to sneak into your room, Bonnie. And because Caroline sleeps with Klaus more than necessary. Kat help me out, won't you?"

Elena and Bonnie's jaws dropped while Katherine took the brown paper bag out of Rebekah's hand and she gasped, "you got this from my favourite place off the side of that highway didn't you?"

"It only took thirty extra minutes you slutty twat," Rebekah smirked as Caroline, Elena and Bonnie continued to stare at them in disbelief.

"Aww," Katherine put her hand on her heart, "I love you."

"We all know that's a lie, you're just groping your left boob because you're horny and not getting laid tonight."

Everyone burst out into laughter, including Elena who said, "yeah Katherine, I second that."

"Okay, let's go back to Caroline's boy drama," Katherine rolled her eyes as she took out three takeout boxes of fries and two of wings.

"Yeah Care! You didn't care to tell us that you've finally moved on from your dumbass boyfriend!" Elena exclaimed.

"No, no, no it's not like that," Caroline promised. "Rebekah just loves wording things for misinterpretation. I'm not mentally prepared enough to talk about him right now. One of you guys go."

"Dibs out," Bonnie sighed as she put on _Clueless_ and lowered the volume. "I have a bit to say that may or may not concern you two."

"Now I'm really interested," Katherine gave Bonnie her signature sinister giggle and proceeded start eating fries.

"Aren't you against eating junk Kat?" Elena asked while popping some popcorn in her mouth and reaching to grab the champagne from beside Caroline.

"Yeah," Bonnie agreed. "Remember that time where that Nadia girl from The Other Side kidnapped you and made you eat junk food for like three days and you had to cleanse yourself by puking and drinking green smoothies for the next week?"

Rebekah stifled a laugh, "I definitely remember, Stefan had to help you through it because Damon couldn't help but laugh at your distress."

"Kat you got kidnapped?!"

"Yes I did Elena. Twice actually, but that doesn't matter. I'm Katherine Pierce, I'm a survivor. I only threw up because it was gross like unbranded cheese puffs and stale Twinkies. I can eat this because I know the guy that owns the place, he uses real ingredients that won't send me to hell earlier than necessary."

Caroline finished her mouthful of candy and told Katherine to give her the wings. "Okay, Elena what's up with you and Damon? Like has anything changed since you found out about this." Caroline hadn't really thought how Elena would feel, finding out her boyfriend killed people. Even Caroline was still adjusting over her friends killing people, she wouldn't be able to wrap her head around it if Tyler also killed people. That would mean she would have to accept that maybe he _was_ trying to kill her in the jeep.

Elena cleared her throat, "um, not really. I mean I still love him with every ounce in my body and I got dragged into this too. I also hate him for putting his self in danger for so long and never telling me about it, if that makes sense. Now that I know what he does and I am somehow doing it too, I'm going to make sure I don't lose him. I can't even imagine my life without him. Damon tried to push me away for a day or two because he told me that he kills people and was bad for me and I agree, he _is_ bad for me, but I also don't care because soon enough, I'll be just as damned."

"Whoo!" Katherine cheered. "Now that was the perfect ending for an overly sappy summarization sis. Now please don't tell me that champagne is just going to sit in your hand for the rest of this night."

"I agree. I think we all need to get a bit tipsy," Caroline smiled as she stole the champagne from Elena, "so allow me." Caroline held the bottle above her head and looked away as she twisted the bottle until the cork popped off.

Foam oozed out of the top as everyone cheered and applauded her. Caroline laughed as she picked up a glass lying on the bed and filled it up. The other girls grabbed their glasses and she made sure none of them were empty.

"Okay Katherine," Rebekah started after sipping the pinkish alcohol, "let me ask you one question. Do you and Elijah do anything other than sleep together?"

"Is that even a question?" Katherine asked while rolling her eyes and the girls nodded. "Are you guys serious? Yes we do."

"Like?" Bonnie pushed.

"Last week he set up a super romantic candlelit bath for me with rose petals and all jazz because I came back from a mission at like two am. It was super romantic."

"Elijah did that? That's so cute," Elena pouted and Katherine rolled her eyes again. "I thought he was the stone-cold-pay-you-off type."

"Sometimes we go to fancy restaurants in the middle of the day or in the morning, yesterday we watched a horror movie and obviously we just critiqued it, he also gave me a foot massage and painted my nails. See?" Katherine held out her hands and all of them crawled to get a better look at them. They were only a simple blood coloured crimson, but they were clean and slick.

"Not bad for one of the unartistic brothers," Rebekah shrugged.

"But we also had really good sex before and after that," Katherine grinned.

"Are you top or bottom?" Every nodded while eating or sipping from their glasses.

"Girls, girls," Katherine smirked while letting out a mischievous giggle, "we alternate. Now you know how I live to go on and on about myself but I think while we're on the topic, we should ask about Rebekah's first date with Stefan."

"If you're implying that Stefan and I had sex last night, then you're wrong. Stefan was a gentleman and Freya always says on the first date 'gentlemen don't show their genitals.'"

Caroline forgot about Freya. She wondered how long had been gone, doing other things. Klaus barely introduced her while they were in the rainforest and when they got to TVD, she wasn't there. If she wasn't in Virginia, did she run away with Finn? If she did, wouldn't Klaus hate her as much as he hated Finn? It didn't sound like he hated her.

"Who's Freya?" Elena asked.

"My elder sister," Rebekah subtly replied.

"Wait, if you and Stefan didn't do it, then how come I heard distinct moaning coming from Stefan's room?" Bonnie questioned.

"We were watching a movie."

"What, Fifty Shades of Grey?" Bonnie inquired in disbelief.

"No..." Rebekah slouched and reached into the bowl full of candy, "I can't watch movies that I've already intently watched twice. It was just a normal movie with a tiny non G-rated scene. I swear all we did was talk and cuddle and kiss a bit. Since you're asking all the questions Bonnie, why don't we talk about you?"

"Yeah what don't you want to tell us Bon?" Elena pressed.

"It's not like some big secret I'm hiding," Bonnie started slowly, "I'm just not really... enthusiastic about telling you."

"Spit it out Bonnie," Katherine said impatiently.

"Okay, okay. Jeremy likes me..." Bonnie cringed, "and it would be a lie if I said I didn't feel anything back."

"Ew," Elena grimaced as Katherine almost gagged, "why my brother out of all people Bon?"

"It's not only Jeremy. There's also Kol..."

"You like Kol? I honestly thought he was completely delusional for going after you," Rebekah admitted.

"I don't know, but there's this guy named Enzo..."

Enzo. That name sounded familiar to Caroline.

"Is that the guy who got your number at the restaurant?"

"Mmm, Bonbon," Katherine grinned as she sucked the barbecue sauce off her fingers, "he has good taste. You should give him a shot."

"Should I? I don't want to hurt Jeremy, but if I go out with him, Kol might lash out at him and he could get physically hurt."

"Wait let me get this straight," Caroline began, "you have mixed feelings for three guys and three of them are into you?"

Bonnie nodded and tried to contain her laughs as she feel back on Caroline, "I feel like a main character in some stupid romance movie."

Everyone burst out into laughter as well and Caroline realized they all were getting a little bit tipsy after their second or third refill. It felt good though, hanging out with all of them. Elena, Bonnie, Katherine and Rebekah. Elena and Rebekah weren't trying to rip each other's throats out either. It was a good night.

The girls' attention turned towards the movie that was playing. They laughed a ton and almost finished all the food in front of them. When there was less than fifteen minutes left in the second movie they watched, they were all lying side by side under the covers.

"It's your turn Care," Elena stated out of the blue.

"My turn? My turn for what?" Caroline turned to Elena who was on the far left side of the bed.

"Tell us about Klaus," Elena whined.

Caroline sighed, remembering he would be leaving soon. "What about him?"

"Are you two squabbling already?" Rebekah asked from her right. "Nik seemed fine when I left the house."

"No, we're not fighting. We may not fight ever again," Caroline added softly.

"Why wouldn't you fight? You're like cats and dogs," Bonnie was smiling when she turned to see her.

Caroline looked at the ceiling, "you can't fight with someone you might never see again."

"Wait, what do you mean?" Elena questioned from her far right. "Klaus isn't leaving, is he?"

Caroline nodded and closed her eyes, "he's going to New Orleans for a while on a dangerous mission. He could be gone for months, years, or forever." Caroline's voice cracked at the end of her sentence.

"Hey, don't make a mess of yourself like I did when I discovered he was leaving, I completely destroyed my dress because of it and it didn't stop him from following his duty," Rebekah advised her.

"I'm trying, it's just that if he dies-"

"Nik won't die," Rebekah interrupted her. "He's lived too bloody long to die now. Don't mind me, I was only overwhelmed because I just got him back. No matter how long he's gone, Nik will always find his way back."

"I know, I know, that's what he kept on telling me. It's just that, he's all I've known since the rainforest and I'm not sure how I'll feel without him being here," Caroline explained.

"Well, now you need to ask yourself about how you feel about him," Bonnie answered slowly. "Are you sure Klaus is just a friend, I mean now that we're going to get Tyler, you have to sort out what you feel."

"Says the one with three boyfriends," Katherine giggled.

"You guys are going to get Tyler? What are you going to do?" Elena queried.

"What do you mean 'what am I going to do'? I love Tyler with my everything, I'm going to love him when I see him again. Klaus is letting me have some time with him before he gets detained."

"How did you let him do that?" Bonnie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, Nik was utterly against it when we met up," Rebekah added.

Caroline sighed as she felt her phone vibrate beside her. "We made a deal, I would go on a date with him."

"You're kidding," Elena stated.

"I'm not..."

"I don't like Tyler at all because he threw a glass at you, but what are you going to tell him? It's not my place to say, but should you really just go on a date with someone who's obsessed with you while you're in a relationship? What if Klaus gets possessive after and decides to kill Tyler because he's getting in the way of you two? I don't like Tyler but I don't want him dead."

Elena had a point, going out with Klaus was wrong. So wrong. But it was for Tyler and she had to do anything to see him again.

"For once I actually agree with her," Rebekah commented. "Tyler is getting in the way of you and Nik. But unlike her, I don't care if Tyler dies after my brothers and I are done with him, I hate him for what he's brought upon my family."

"Just admit it Care," Bonnie smirked, "you're attracted to him."

"Klaus is as hot as the depths of hell and as dangerous too. His undeniable charm, devilish accent, and the extent of his evil. You can't deny it, you're drawn to the allure of darkness in your world of light."

Caroline didn't know how to answer. Were they right? If they were, what did that say about her? Tyler was still in the picture.

Her phone buzzed again and she took it out to see two messages from Klaus. One said, 'Are you awake?' and 'Call me.'

Caroline told everyone to shut up and that she was calling Klaus. They begged her to hear and she agreed to prove to them Klaus was just a friend and Tyler had nothing relationship wise to worry about. The girls refused to stop giggling until Klaus picked up on the third ring.

"I spent the night prying my mother away from you and your girlfriends' party," Klaus began without a greeting.

"Hello to you too," Caroline grumbled. "And why exactly do I need to know that? It's three am, did I have to find out now?"

"The least I deserve is a thank you," Caroline could tell Klaus was smirking on the other end of the line, "she would've slaughtered you."

"I'm up because I had a great slumber party and haven't passed out drunk yet. Everyone's asleep now except me," Caroline lied. "Why are you still awake?"

"You could say I've gotten used to you, sweetheart." Klaus softened his voice, "for the short amount of time I am unconscious, I only sleep peacefully with you in my arms."

Caroline blushed furiously, wishing she hadn't put the call on speaker, she was glad the lights were off or her face would've further proved her argument wrong. The rest of the girls mouthed 'awws' and 'that's so cute.'

"Why don't you find someone to actually sleep with? I mean you used to bring home whores every night," Caroline pointed out.

"That was prior to my meeting the beauty that is you, love. I don't think of sex with anyone other than you. I imagine one of my hands on the small of your back while the other is traveling down your torso, under your t-shirt. You moan and lean your head back on my shoulder, biting your lip and aching for more. Your breath hitches as I kiss up your neck, to your earlobe and I tease it with my tongue before whispering, 'this is what you get for lying to me about your friends' consciousness.'"

"Klaus!" Caroline yelled, feeling her ears heat up as all of her friends uncontrollably laughed again.

"Sweet dreams love."


	14. Chapter 14

Hi, I missed a week I'm sorry. School started and it's been a bit stressful. Make sure to review, favourite and follow!

* * *

"Don't worry Care, he'll be alright," Bonnie reassured her as she sat beside her on the long cushioned seat. "It's an hour flight, we'll be there before anything serious happens to Tyler."

Caroline took a deep breath, closing her eyes. She had never felt so nervous before a flight. Then again, she barely traveled out of Mystic Falls and she had never been to Pennsylvania to save or potentially doom her boyfriend who left her to die. What if he didn't want to see her, what if he wanted her dead? She let out the breath slowly. Caroline had to forget about those things and focus on what Matt said. Tyler was sorry and wanted to see her.

"That is, if Tyler's in danger," Elijah chimed in before sitting down in the two person seat ahead of them.

"Why wouldn't Tyler be in danger?" Caroline asked while opening her eyes to look at Elijah. "If those people kidnapped him in the rainforest-"

"They wouldn't have taken him to the hospital for a silly sprained ankle," Rebekah pointed out as she sat beside Elijah. "These people are ruthless assassins, a trip to the hospital doesn't fit their description."

"She has a point Care," Bonnie admitted, "and something's been on my mind. If those guys were waiting at the bathroom, what was Tyler going to do when he got there? He wasn't kidnapped, he was saved from the son of a bitch chasing him down. If I didn't know Klaus was after Tyler, then I don't think those people knew either. Tyler had to be heading their way willingly and if he knew who they were, what was he or they going to do with you?"

Bonnie and Rebekah both had a point, but she didn't want to think about it until Tyler was safe in her arms. Caroline had no time to think about what he did wrong to her when she was about to go save him. Maybe.

"Tyler would never-"

"I have reason to believe Tyler would. He was going to murder you," Klaus announced as he entered the jet with Kol. "Pilot informed me that we'll be taking off shortly."

Caroline looked down at her feet. It had been three days since the big sleepover she and her friends had and Klaus trained her nonstop. She knew the basics and special tactics and tricks that she could use in the worst case scenario which he promised would never happen. Now that they were about to take off, Caroline was worried that the worst case scenario would happen. "Klaus we've been over this..."

"Tyler just got a tad impatient on the way," he started while walking down the aisle towards the rest of them. "The driver was working with The Other Side explaining why he could care less about Tyler choking you out in the back seat without the theory of his body not containing a heart."

"How would you even know he's from the other side Klaus?"

"I had a very special woman do a little digging," Klaus smirked while turning to Bonnie and Caroline, "didn't I Bonnie?"

"Flattering," Bonnie answered back in a monotone voice.

"Back off of her Nik," Kol warned as he sat beside Caroline's friend, putting his arm around her, "she's not yours to sweet talk."

Bonnie rolled her eyes and pried Kol's arm off of her body, "you're definitely one to talk. And Care, Tyler choked you? Why didn't you tell me?"

"Yeah, how come this has never come up in conversation?" Rebekah added.

"It wasn't important. I didn't think it was serious enough to tell anyone," Caroline lied as her eyes dropped down to her feet.

"If Tyler was trying to kill you Care-"

"He wasn't," Caroline shot back and immediately regretted it. "Bon, I'm sorry. I'm just on edge right now."

Bonnie sighed, "Klaus knows that lousy driver was part of The Other Side because he gave me the description of the driver. I looked into it and he did work with The Other Side. What's even worse is that Jules Davison was the last person to he called on October tenth, your birthday. She works for TOS too."

"She's one of the people with Tyler," Caroline realized. "So the driver was working with TOS and was possibly trying to take us to TOS. What does that have to do with Tyler and I? Tyler doesn't have anything to do with TOS and it still doesn't prove Tyler was trying to hurt me."

"Sweetheart, I'm more than apologetic to say you're oblivious but it's hard to refrain if you call his hands around your neck a hug," Klaus answered. "Tyler booked the tour, if TOS members were involved, there is not a chance they would allow you to live."

_So Tyler knew I would end up dead either way. That's why he choked me and left me in that car-_ Caroline stopped herself. _Calm down Caroline, forget about this. It can all be one big misunderstanding. Just focus on Tyler how much Tyler loves you._

"I'm tired and I think I should get some rest," Caroline suggested. Bonnie nodded and got up with Kol after squeezing her shoulder supportively and went to go sit up front. Rebekah smiled at her before turning to talk to Elijah.

Caroline got up and sat in a seat nearer to the back, knowing Klaus was right behind her. "I meant alone, Klaus."

"We are alone," Klaus smiled as he took the seat next to her, "or as alone as we can be with my siblings around.

"Tyler isn't going to like it when he finds out that the person trying to kill him took an interest in me. He's already going to feel bad enough with Rebekah and Bonnie yelling at him for what he did, I don't need him getting angry about you too."

"I'm not sure you realize just what he did to you," Klaus said, lowering his voice as he raised the arm rest that was separating the two of them.

Caroline looked him in the eye, "I have to find that out by talking to him and the least I could do is stay away from you until we get him."

"Keeping your distance for an hour won't erase the past two weeks love. You cannot eradicate the undeniable chemistry between us." Klaus gave her a small dimpled smile that made her heart stop. "Like it or not, we now have a relationship I am unwilling to let go of."

Caroline felt the plane begin to move and she shut her eyes. Was it way too early for her to go on a mission? Elena and Matt haven't even thought of going on missions yet. _There shouldn't be any second thoughts Caroline. This is _Tyler_. You have to be strong for him or no one else will._

A jolt of energy was shot up her arm, breaking her train of thought. She opened her eyes to see Klaus delicately holding her pointer finger and Caroline had no idea what to do. "What-"

When he started spelling out his name in morse code with her finger she shut her mouth. First K, then L, then A, U and finally three short taps for S. "Now it's my turn." His long fingers tapped against the seat spelling Caroline flawlessly.

"Klaus..." she trailed off, not knowing what to say. It was sweet how he remembered she and Tyler's tradition, but it only made her feel worse. A dark feeling of guilt started growing in the pit of her stomach as her heart sunk. Tyler wouldn't want her to do this with any of her friends that were guys. He would freak if it was Damon in Klaus's position right now because he only hated his guts. What was Tyler going to do when he found out she was getting so close to someone who wanted him _dead_?

"Come on now love, get some rest," Klaus told her as he took her hand comfortly.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Caroline sighed as her head fell on his shoulder and Klaus put his free arm around her. She pulled her feet up on the seat and shuffled closer to him. At this point, Caroline finally realized that what she was doing was wrong. Everything was wrong. All the things that happened in the past weeks and was happening between them was absolutely wrong. Really, really wrong. But all she could think about was Klaus holding her, how the electricity pulsed through her veins.

The worst part was, she didn't want him to let go.

* * *

"Caroline wake up," Klaus urged for the fourth time that minute. The jet had landed a few minutes ago and he wished he could try harder to awaken her. In all realness, Klaus rather enjoyed watching her sleeping form. A sense of peace radiated from her unconscious state, restless or not, and admiring her without her mouth running on about Tyler Lockwood provided a whole other kind of contentment.

"Nik, the car's waiting outside!" Rebekah yelled as she got to the first stair that lead off the jet. "Hurry up!"

"Come on now love, don't make me carry you out there," Klaus threatened half heartedly. He brushed a strand of hair out of her face gently and smiled at the slight frown on her face, her brows furrowing.

"Tyler?" Caroline groaned as she finally opened her eyes and sat up. Her eyes scanned her surroundings until they landed on his. "Klaus... Did we land already? Where's Rebekah and Bonnie and Elijah and Kol?"

Klaus removed his arm from her and helped her up, "the lot of them are outside. We are to join them immediately. And dreaming about Tyler are we?"

Caroline hurried down the aisle and out of the door while scolding herself for falling asleep. "I wasn't," she snapped. "So don't say anything about it. This is so humiliating, how could I fall asleep on an hour flight?"

"Nothing humiliating about being well rested love."

"Get in you two!" Bonnie shouted impatiently. "It's almost 12:30 am!"

Klaus rolled his eyes at her order and smirked as he opened the door for Caroline and slipped in after. "Don't be angry with me, I wasn't the one dreaming of our future captive."

"Do you just ignore every word that comes out of my mouth?" Caroline whispered.

"I only disregard sentences about Tyler. The others are usually about my charm and good looks. What are you waiting for brother?" Klaus asked slyly. "As your babysitter said, it's almost 12:30. There's not a minute to waste."

Kol clicked his tongue as he began to drive the black SUV out of the abandoned parking lot. "Niklaus, just because you can't get any from sweet Caroline here, doesn't make it okay to come for my relationship. And before you ask, no. Your anger issues do not justify your actions."

Before Klaus could shoot back an insult, his sister cut in from the seat behind him. "Shut up Kol and perhaps focus on driving before you kill us all," Rebekah suggested.

Klaus ignored the jealousy resurfacing under his skin. It was decided Kol would be Caroline's new trainer after he left. With his constant comments and glances towards her caused Klaus to be more angry than uneasy.

He could feel Caroline shivering against him and he grew more concerned. It was anything but strange for someone to be a bit nervous on your first mission, Caroline's behaviour was out of hand. "Are you cold love?" He whispered.

They were told to dress casually to blend in so obviously Caroline dressed as she normally did. She was wearing yellow dress and a thin white cotton jacket that Rebekah called a cardigan. Caroline of course looked stunning as she always did, but a pair of jeans would've served her better in that scenario.

"I'm fine," she answered dismissively.

"Kol take a left in two hundred meters, we're almost there."

"Love you sound like that Siri device Jeremy has on his phone," Kol laughed. "He must be awfully jealous we're here together."

"Shut up Kol. Klaus, take these and pass them around," Bonnie told him as she passed back four ear pieces. Klaus gave two to Elijah and one to Caroline who observed it with confusion.

"It goes in your ear love," Klaus informed Caroline as he put it in her ear correctly after he was done with his. "It's a mic so the back catcher and everyone else can converse with you during the mission you're on."

"And these," Bonnie added while passing back two cameras to Caroline. "Those are cameras for you and Rebekah."

"Body cams?" She asked while handing one back to Rebekah. "I'm guessing this doesn't go in my ear right?"

Klaus nearly rolled his eyes as Kol began to speak up. Nothing good ever came out of his mouth. "It goes in your boobs sweetheart. I could help you if you'd like."

"You will not dare," Klaus growled. "I'll behead you if you think about her for another second-"

"Niklaus, calm yourself," Elijah ordered sternly. "This unneeded out lash and childish behaviour has to end. Caroline does not belong to you brother, she is entitled to herself and can defend herself against our wretchedly perverted brother. If you must say something, do it without a threat."

"Kol turn left dammit!" Bonnie hollered as she set up the screens connected to the cameras and put on her own ear piece.

"I did turn left!" He answered after the sharp left turn over a curb with just as much frustration.

"I obviously meant again genius!"

"Can you not see Elijah?" Klaus asked exasperatedly. "Kol deserves to be insulted, does he not Bonnie?!"

"I do not brother! It's not my fault that I find it utterly hilarious that you think you have a chance with Caroline even after knowing first hand her obsession with her boyfriend. Do you not get it Nik? She'd choose Tyler over you in a heart beat."

"I now see you're one of the people who only respond correctly to acts of violence," Klaus coldly smiled and reached to unbuckle his seatbelt.

"Turn right Kol and Klaus sit your ass back down. We're already in enough danger..." Bonnie groaned.

"Hello? I still need someone to help me with my boob cam!" Caroline whined. "Does it just go in between or?"

Klaus reluctantly sat back down and whispered bloody hell as he tried his best to avoided the image of Caroline reaching into her cleavage.

"Kol turn here, are you deaf?!" Bonnie yelled.

Kol sharply turned right, causing Caroline to fall on him which he most definitely was not complaining about. "Sorry," she whispered and Klaus could feel her heart hammering against her ribs.

Kol finally pulled into the parking lot of a huge hotel with a huge grin on his face. "Never again am I getting in a car with you!" Bonnie promised through pants.

"What was that Kol? Were you trying to bloody kill us before we could get to Tyler?!" Rebekah asked angrily.

As Kol laughed psychotically instead of answering Rebekah, Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose and motioned to Caroline, making Klaus itch in anticipation as he subtly took her hand protectively. "Sister would you please?"

Rebekah nodded, "Caroline come here." Caroline listen and leaned her chest over the chair and Rebekah asked for the camera. The three males stayed quiet, two out of three pairs of eyes lingering on the scene too long.

"Klaus, Kol!" Caroline snapped. "Boob cam, bra, eyes, no!"

"I agree," Rebekah added.

"So do I," Bonnie agreed as she hit the back of Kol's head.

"Do not scold me," Klaus argued with an undeniable grin, refusing to look away, "Kol deserves it more than I do! It's nothing I haven't seen before but Kol on the other hand..."

"Klaus!" Caroline hissed.

"What about my noble brother Elijah? His name was not even mentioned, perhaps because you two seemed to have grown so close."

"Because he's in love with _Katherine_, he attempted to put you in your place, and he's not gross like both of you," she retorted. "He's looking out the window like a perfect gentleman!"

"You're acting as if you didn't sneak a few glances yourself Caroline. Don't play the innocent card on me love."

"Seriously? Get out. Now!"

Klaus put his hands up and winked at her before exiting the vehicle silently. He circled around the dark sports utility vehicle and knocked on Bonnie's window with his pointer finger's knuckle. She rolled the tinted glass down. "I expect that you and Elijah will not allow me to barge in and break down Tyler's door by my lonesome, so what's the plan?"

"Tyler's room is room 128 on the second floor, the last room to the left. The others are in the rooms beside him... hopefully. Now if you see them, try not to engage without Rebekah and Elijah."

"That means I have permission to obliterate them?" Klaus asked as Bonnie handed him two hotel key cards Alaric and Meredith hand made for them earlier incase hotel security asked.

"The Other Side could see this as TVD pushing back on their threats, but we don't want them tracking us. Knock them out hard enough for a concussion, only kill if you need to. Got it?"

"Yes ma'am," he agreed through half a smile, "and Caroline?"

"Caroline is still shaky, all she wants is Tyler back, we shouldn't make things harder on her. Try not to do anything too violent in front of her."

Elijah, Rebekah and Caroline approached Klaus and Bonnie. "How do you believe we should we go about this?" Elijah asked.

"Wait until I can get into the security cameras and keep an eye on security, loop the surveillance and disable any alarms. Then I'll tell you to go, but not all at the same time, they would've remembered such a big group." Bonnie pursed her lips and hummed quietly, "Care, queen of small talk, chat it up so they're not suspicious and call the police before Rebekah can take care of them."

"Take care of?" Caroline repeated in disbelief. "You going to kill them?! What did they do? They're innocent!"

"I'm not killing them," Rebekah reassured her as she took a tranquilizer gun from Bonnie, "don't worry about it."

"Take these," Bonnie handed them each a handgun and a matte black 8.5 inch knife.

Caroline shook her head and held the weapons out, "I'm not going to kill anyone, I can fight without a weapon."

Elijah stopped her by putting one of his hands on her shoulder and the other on the gun. "It's for your protection Caroline. You control your weapon the weapon does not control you. No actions of yours can be lethal unless you wish it to be."

Klaus refrained from giving his elder brother a nasty glare and tucked the knife given to him in his shoe, enjoying the cool flat blade against his skin.

As he put the hand gun in under his pants' waistband pulled his henley over it, Klaus realized Elijah could be right about his attitude. In all reality, Klaus had been on edge for the past three days. Anyone who gave Caroline more than friendly attention at their training sessions had been threatened behind the scenes, he accidentally raised his voice towards Elijah when he attempted to speak to him about Kol training her. Though he refused to admit it, it was Tyler's arrival causing his behaviour changes.

With Klaus's departure and Tyler's return, the situation was bound to bring damage upon Caroline. There was no doubt Tyler would react poorly when he found out about he and Caroline's relationship. Knowing Caroline, she would continue to visit him no matter. It was simply an accident waiting to happen.

Klaus would kill Tyler after prying out information from him if Caroline was not in the picture. He couldn't bring himself to now that she was. Ever since their first night together, Klaus never wanted to hurt her again and he did unintentionally. He wasn't about to slaughter Tyler, she would harm herself.

Caroline nodded, "okay Elijah." Rebekah took the gun from Caroline and put it in the back pocket of her dark wash jeans along with her own gun as Caroline slipped her knife into her boots.

"Once you get past the front desk, Klaus will lead you guys to Tyler's room. Care, you knock so Tyler actually opens the door, everyone else stay hidden until he's lowered his guard. Then restrain him, don't knock him out or kill him. There's a window in the room that looks out to the back of the hotel. Kol and I will be waiting there, don't waste any time."

The group of four nodded and made their way to the front of the building. Klaus gave Caroline a fake card as they turned on their earpieces and wished her good luck, Klaus grabbed her arm before she could leave and looked her in the eye. "Be safe."

Caroline nodded, "I majored in drama. I got this." He let go of her arm slowly and she pressed her earpiece. "I'm going in Bonnie."

"I've already started," Bonnie's voice stated, "you won't have to talk to them for long, but keep them interested."

Klaus shifted to let himself see Caroline walking towards the two men behind the front desk while still remaining hidden. Her earpiece was still on the mode that allowed them to listen, so everyone to could hear her conversation.

"Hey boys," Caroline greeted in a seductive tone and Klaus's eyes widened. Caroline had reached the two males and was slightly messing up her blonde locks of hair.

"What is she doing?" Klaus hissed at Elijah and Rebekah.

Rebekah gave him a sly smile, "she's keeping them occupied."

Caroline's voice came on again, just as sexy as before, "I was wondering if you could help me with some... things."

Klaus couldn't make out their response, but he could tell by the disgusting look on their faces, they were interested.

"It's just that my room was totes burning up," Caroline sighed. "I had to get out of there for some fresh air. In fact, I'm still really, _really_ hot." She took off her cardigan and handed it to one of them, "hold this for me?"

They nodded frantically while the other started talking again.

Caroline tapped her lips thoughtfully, pulling her finger over the bottom one, and shook her head, "I tried the air conditioning, it wasn't working." The two started talking again and she bit her card, twirling her hair in between her fingers. "Well their could be another reason why the room was hot... You wanna hear the story?"

Klaus almost nodded.

"My boyfriend has been gone for a long time now and I thought I could find someone to fill his place for a night, but I didn't at the time. So tried to get myself off..." she smiled with innocence, "maybe once or twice or more."

Klaus bit his lip to refrain from groaning and felt his jeans tighten. _Not now! Caroline what are you doing to me?_ He thought to himself and allowed pictures of Kol to calm his self down.

"But now, it looks like I found two of perfect guys..."

"I'm done," Bonnie informed them and Klaus didn't waste anytime stealing the tranquilizer from Rebekah. He ignored his name being shouted angrily from his sister. Klaus barged through the doors and shot them both in their carotid arteries causing them to drop in the same second.

"We said no killing innocent people!" Caroline yelled in a whisper.

"They were anything but innocent," Klaus countered, "did you see the way they reacted to your little scheme? While we're on the subject, what the bloody hell was that?!"

"It was bloody genius that's what," Rebekah answered and turned to Caroline. "You did a bloody good job for you first time around. There will be many more of these instances to come and you're off to a great start."

"There will be none to come after this as long as my heart remains beating," Klaus growled.

"Was I really that good?" Caroline beamed as Bonnie said yes and Rebekah nodded. "I thought I was coming off too slutty at one point, but I think it evened out. Guess who my inspiration was."

"Who?" Rebekah queried while taking back her tranquilizer from Klaus.

"Katherine!" Caroline clapped excitedly. "Before you Elijah of course and like a little more whorish, you know?"

"I think it was spot on," Rebekah laughed and elbowed Klaus. "Lighten up Nik. Don't worry Caroline, he's just mad because he got a hard on once he heard your voice."

"Rebekah, let's put away the sexual content for the rest of the mission shall we?" Elijah told her while handing Caroline her light coloured cardigan. He pressed his earpiece and began speaking. "Bonnie, our next move?"

"Follow Klaus, he knows where to go," Bonnie voice rang through his earpiece. "I'll warn you if something happens."

Elijah nodded and motioned to Klaus who was already on his way to the elevator. "We don't want this to take all night," he grunted and the others rushed towards him as the elevator dinged.

They stepped in and Klaus reached for the button labeled the number two. As Klaus pressed down on it, he felt another finger on his that pulled back as quick as it came. He turned to see Caroline holding her pointer finger. "Sorry," she mouthed silently and Klaus smirked in response.

It barely took a minute to get to the second floor and Bonnie was already giving orders. "Elijah and Rebekah, stay flat on the left wall of the centre hallway near the corner. Don't come out unless you hear Klaus start to engage with Tyler, or the other leave their rooms."

"Roger," Rebekah answered as she and Elijah flattened themselves against the wall.

"Klaus, if you go past Tyler's room, there is a small place you can stay and listen to Caroline and Tyler's conversation. Go for him when he's comfortable, not a second before. Do not go because you are mad about what Tyler's saying, you'll ruin everything. Caroline, you know what you have to do. Remember, you can talk later, don't get too engulfed in the conversation. And don't rat Rebekah and Elijah out, they'll be there to save you."

Caroline nodded, "okay."

The two of them walked quietly down the hallway and Klaus hid around the corner while Caroline stayed at the door. It was silent for thirty one and a half seconds before he heard three short knocks. There was rusting and footsteps in the room for sometime. Then the doorknob turned slowly and the door was open.

"Tyler."

* * *

Caroline's heart was beating out of her chest as she locked eyes on her boyfriend, who she was about to betray for an unknown reason. After his name left her lips, she instantly regretted coming with Klaus. She thought that she would feel like running into his arms and kissing him. Caroline did want to do those things, but something wasn't right. Tyler wasn't right.

"Caroline," Tyler started slowly, his eyes raking her from her head to her feet. Tyler was surprised, that's all. That's what was wrong. He was acting like this because he was surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here for you," Caroline laughed, trying to lighten the mood, but even her laugh sounded sad.

"How did you find me?" Tyler asked quicker than the last question, with a more dangerous tone.

"Um," Caroline took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Her eyes hung on his dark hair and toned chest and unbuttoned jeans. Unbuttoned jeans? "I came to Philadelphia to get away from it all and it's the closest to Mystic Falls. Coincidentally, we checked into the same hotel. I saw you earlier today but you slipped away too quick for me."

Tyler shook his head and reached for the doorknob, "Care you can't be here–"

Caroline grabbed his bicep out of reflexes and whispered, "no please don't leave me. Not again..."

Tyler ripped his arm away from her, "go now."

"Please let me in, just for a minute, so we can talk–"

Tyler's expression darkened, "you can't come in Caroline!"

"Ty? Are you okay over there? Who's at the door?" A very feminine voice asked from inside the room.

Caroline jumped at the voice a little and Tyler muttered 'oh shit'. "No one Hayley, it's not important."

"Hayley? Who the hell is Hayley?!" Caroline interrogated, raising her voice.

A pretty brunette with high cheekbones and hazel eyes emerged from the room. This Hayley girl stopped behind Tyler and swung her arms around his neck, peppering kisses up it and his shoulder. She was wearing a black robe with most likely nothing underneath.

"I'm Hayley," she said cautiously, "who are you and Ty why were you yelling her?"

"I'm Caroline," she answered feeling anger and confusion flood into her veins.

Hayley was kissing _her_ boyfriend, in a robe, naked! And Tyler was letting her. He also had no shirt on and unbuttoned jeans. They were sleeping together!

"Ty?" Caroline tried to say with an unwavering voice as her vision blurred with tears. "Are you sleeping with her?"

"What's going on here?" Hayley questioned, letting go of Tyler.

"Hayley honey, go back inside the room, I can take care of this," Tyler promised.

"What the hell do you mean take care of this?" Hayley questioned. "What is 'this?' Who is she and why is she asking if we're sleeping together as if we weren't in a relationship?"

"Trust me," Tyler told her arm Hayley reluctantly disappeared again. Tyler stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. He locked it too.

"So you're already sleeping around with some other bitch?" Caroline scoffed.

"Caroline it's not what it looks like–"

"It's exactly what it looks like! I've been gone for two weeks goddammit! I've been gone for two fucking weeks! You couldn't even mourn me, could you?! You didn't even go back to Mystic Falls to tell anyone I was gone!"

"Of course I mourned you!" Tyler sneered back. "You were dead Caroline, what did you want me to?! I couldn't go tell our friends that you died and I lived? Tell your mom that you were dead? That's not my responsibility. You were dead and there was nothing I could do about it."

"You left me for dead in a burning car without a second thought! You could've saved me! Instead you ran away and now you're sleeping with some slut! Tyler, you've been the only thing on my mind. We were the only thing on my mind. I clawed my way out of that disgusting forest for you! I did everything up until this point for you just to see you with her!"

Tyler didn't respond.

There were tears full of anger and betrayal rolling down her cheeks. Caroline had told everyone that she was doing everything she did for Tyler because they loved each other. She was embarrassing herself this whole time. "You were going to ask me to marry you, but then you got mad. I saw the box. I dreamt about the box, I dreamt about marrying you!" Caroline quieted down, sniffling. "I thought you loved me."

"You died, I thought I had to move on."

"Move on? There was a time I considered if you were dead too, I didn't even think of moving on–"

"This is all because of him! I was going to marry you, I wanted to, believe me! Then he came along, I didn't realize it then, but it was him who gave you that jacket! He blew up the jeep! He's the reason-"

Caroline felt herself getting mad again. Tyler was going to blame this whole situation on Klaus?! It wasn't all his fault! If Tyler didn't overreact, she would have a fiancé! It was Klaus's fault the jeep blew up, Caroline couldn't deny that, but if Tyler helped her out in the car, she wouldn't be in this situation!

"Klaus is the reason I'm alive!" Caroline almost yelled. "He saved my life which is more than you can say! You can't blame everything that happened on him!"

"You've got to be kidding me," Tyler shook his head while laughing coldly. "Don't tell me you're talking about Klaus Mikaelson."

"So what if I am?!"

"I didn't think you were dumb enough to believe anything he says! This guy wants to kill me and I know you know that! Why would you trust him at all?!"

"He–"

"Shut up Caroline!"

Caroline didn't waste any time to slap the shit out of Tyler. God she was _mad_ mad. She waited for him to turn his head back towards her. "I don't care what you have to say about Klaus. I can make my own decision–"

A door creaking open caused her to stop mid sentence. A man with blonde hair and blue eyes with a big build walked out. It was Daniel Warren, Klaus's former Hybrid. Caroline reached to press her ear piece to contact Bonnie, but Tyler stopped her.

He pulled the earpiece out of her ear and observed it. "What the hell is this? You're on a mission aren't you?"

Wait, how did Tyler know about missions? "What do you mean?"

Caroline realized Daniel was getting dangerously close to her. She didn't know if she should call Elijah and Rebekah, or if she should listen to Bonnie.

"Are you with TVD?!" Tyler asked again. "You lied! You tracked me!"

Daniel was only three feet away from her now so she pulled out the knife from her military boot, "tell your friend to go away and I'll talk."

"No," Tyler whispered to himself and turned to unlock the door with his card. Caroline noticed and stole the card from him. "Care listen to me, don't do this. We can run away together, but if they're with you we need to leave now. Don't listen to whatever they told you. You can't turn me in, Klaus will kill me and if you stay they'll turn you into a monster. If you love me, let's run away together, okay?"

"You don't get it now," Caroline whispered, "but I'm saving your life Tyler because I love you."

Caroline tensed as she felt Daniel behind her, she forgot about him. The card was ripped from her hand as fast as she swiped it from Tyler. Caroline turned around with a shaky breath. He was definitely going to beat her ass.

Daringly, Caroline took a step forward, flipping the blade backwards. "C'mon little girl, don't be stupid. Necks snap easily around here."

"I can take you," Caroline stated after a few shallow breaths, mostly to herself as encouragement while all the moves Klaus taught her flashed through her mind.

"Wanna bet?" He questioned sarcastically. The disrespect filling his words made her blood boil. Tyler was sleeping with some girl and his big burly friend thought she was a little girl who couldn't do anything.

"Yeah, I do." Caroline punched him in the face as hard as she could, making him unsteady. In his weakness, she grabbed his neck and pushed his body against the wall, making sure his head was slammed extra hard. Caroline was right about to kick his balls but Daniel took a hold on her neck with both hands, tightening his grip every second. She felt her feet leave the floor along with the air in her lungs as she held onto one of his hands, desperately trying to pry it off. When it didn't budge, Caroline let go and strained a grin before she plunged her knife into the wrist of the hand holding the key card. Daniel yelped in pain, dropping the card into her free hand. She kneed his crotch before he let go of her neck. As he bent over in despair, Caroline ripped out her knife and kneed him in the stomach. She kicked Daniel onto the floor and sent him flying into the wall, groaning in agony. "Told ya."

Tyler stared at her, shocked at what happened in just a minute. Caroline tried to calm down her breathing while looking into his eyes, "is that all you got? A man who personally trained with Klaus for such a long time beaten by a little girl?"

"I told you you were a prodigy in the making love." Caroline whipped around to see Klaus standing with his hands behind his back. "It was a wondrous performance. Some might even say I was proud."

"Klaus," Tyler said, backing up into his door.

"Little Lockwolf," Klaus sinisterly smiled, walking towards him carefully, eyeing him up and down. When he finally made it to Tyler, Klaus lowered his voice, "There is no escape, hell on Earth awaits."

Suddenly, the two others opened their doors and walked out. Almost immediately, Elijah and Rebekah reappear, taking their time walking down the hall. Klaus laughed, "hurry it up you two, who are performing for? Time is of the essence."

"I don't remember you being such a stickler for the rules Nik," Rebekah smiled as she stood behind Jules. "What changed?"

Caroline could tell Nate was assessing the situation's danger because after a few seconds, he turned around to leave. Unfortunately for him, Elijah stopped his attempt, gripping his shoulder. "Niklaus what are we to do with these?"

"Concussions," Klaus replied simply, looking back at his brother with a smirk plastered across his face. "Then tranquilize them, so they'll forget this tragedy."

Rebekah firmly grabbed Jules by her blonde hair and slammed her head on a mahogany table, knocking her out immediately. Her body crumpled to the ground and Rebekah made a face and scrunched up her nose as she peeked at Jules's face. "I may have broken her nose, oops."

Elijah dropped Nate after he smashed his head against the wall, "Rebekah if you would please."

She pulled out the special gun from her back pocket, "my pleasure." Rebekah shot both of them in their necks before the second passed.

"What about Daniel-" Caroline heard groaning as she turned around to see Daniel barely standing up.

Klaus rushed in front of her before she could blink twice. "Look away Caroline," Klaus told her softly with the same amount of danger he used when he raised his voice.

Caroline backed up towards Tyler, shutting her eyes, knowing what was going to come next. She should be trying to stop Klaus, instead she was letting him murder this man. But she didn't care what happened to him. Caroline wanted him to die.

Gagging sounds came after the sound of a knife plunging into flesh. She gasped and opened her eyes, realizing what thoughts flew through her mind, but Klaus was already back in front of her. "Caroline."

Elijah stepped over the bodies with Rebekah close behind him. "Was that necessary Niklaus?"

"Very," Klaus smiled. "Now give me that keycard sweetheart."

Caroline gave him the card as Tyler desperately pleaded otherwise. Klaus opened the door and held Tyler's arms together behind his back. "Nice room you have here."

Caroline couldn't help herself and let Rebekah and Elijah pass her. Her blue green eyes caught on Daniel, he was dead a couple of seconds after she laid eyes on him. Blood was seeping into the long carpet and Klaus's knife was still in his stuck in his throat.

"Shut the fuck up you murdering son of a bitch!" Caroline heard Tyler growl while trying to break free when she got into the room.

"Now, now Tyler," Klaus started while tightening his grip. "I left two of them alive, don't get picky."

"Bonnie says to grab his wallet, phone, some clothes and hurry down," Rebekah stated, "so enough with the dilly dally."

Caroline heard Tyler say something along the lines of 'Bonnie too?' while she spotted his suitcase by the closet and picked out some t-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, socks, his boxers and his sneakers. When she looked up, Elijah had his phone and Rebekah had his wallet.

When they all got to the window, Rebekah opened it and kicked out the net. As they discussed what order to get down, a noise came from the bathroom. The bathroom door creaked open and Hayley stood there, pointing her gun at them. Instead of a robe, she was wearing a slightly big olive t-shirt and black lacy shorts.

Klaus eyed her and sighed, "and you must be Tyler's so called girlfriend."

"Who are you?" Hayley countered taking a step forward and turning the safety off her gun. Her hazel eyes glowed with anger with every step. She was fierce and brave for someone who wasn't in an assassination organization. "Are you with TOS? What are you doing to Tyler?"

Never mind. Too soon.

If Hayley asked if they were with The Other Side, that would mean she wasn't with them. She wasn't with TOS and Caroline hadn't seen her in TVD, then who the hell was she?

Klaus stood in front of Caroline protectively, "put the gun down before you hurt yourself love. Setting that off confirms your early death." Caroline felt her heart stop as Hayley pressed the gun to his forehead. Was she going to shoot Klaus? If she shot him-

"The Other Side?" Rebekah almost laughed. "Are you crazy?"

"Hayley, shoot them all, they're going to kill me-"

"What is your name?" Elijah politely questioned after subtly putting his foot on Tyler's upper back, shutting him up.

"I'm Hayley Marshall," she introduced, lowering her gun slowly, letting Caroline breathe. "Wait a second, you're the Mikaelsons. Klaus, Elijah, and Rebekah. No wonder you looked so familiar."

"Hayley, what are you doing?! Shoot them!" Tyler exclaimed exasperatedly and Elijah began putting his weight on his foot, shutting him up. Caroline would have had way more sympathy for him if she wasn't so fucking mad.

"Silence," Elijah ordered and Tyler reluctantly closed his mouth. "How do you know of me and my siblings?"

"You're all legendary assassins. Plus, I'm going to be crowned the new leader of the Crescent Wolves in a week or so," Hayley remarked carefully. "The Crescents' provide TVD weapons, poisons, ingredients for antidotes and additional support in New Orleans."

"Nik?"

"This lot is not from New Orleans such as I am," Klaus smiled at Hayley, "they're not familiar with the Crescents'. In Virginia, the Armoury does a similar job. Now Hayley, how did you and Tyler happen to stumble across each other?"

"Our families were friends way back when. I recognized him immediately, confronted him and we started seeing each other after a little bit. I bet you're his other girlfriend right?"

"I'm not the _other_ girlfriend, but yeah." Caroline said while stepping out from behind Klaus. Hayley looked so sure of herself, her voice wasn't wavering even though she knew she was in front of the deadliest family of assassins in the world.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I didn't know. You can have him back, but he's a piece of shit."

"Yeah, he was never yours," Caroline smiled sarcastically.

Scanning the group, Hayley crossed her arms and sighed, ignoring Caroline's remark. "If you're in TVD Virginia especially, why are you taking Tyler?"

"What exactly did Tyler tell you?" Elijah inquired.

She glanced down at Tyler suspiciously before looking back up at Elijah, "you guys, as in TVD Virginia, sent him on a mission here two weeks ago."

"I'm sorry to disappoint Little Wolf but Tyler is not a part of our organization," Klaus told her, "he's a lying traitor."

"He's what now?"

Elijah got the groups' attention, "Bonnie and Kol are waiting. I'm sure you can see yourself out, Miss Marshall."

"Hayley," she corrected, "if we ever see each other again. You're free to leave, I'll cover for you guys if the cops happen to come around."

"Thanks," Rebekah smiled not wasting a second to start climbing out of the window. In a flash, Rebekah disappeared and Caroline rushed over to the open window when she didn't hear anything. Her friend was there, standing up right, waving for Caroline to come over.

It was like a thirty feet jump. She and Klaus barely practised anything that had to do with jumping out of a building. While wondering how she was going to do this, she felt a hand on the small of her back. "You can make it love, don't doubt yourself."

"I know I can Klaus," Caroline stated confidently, mostly for Tyler and Hayley. She wanted to show him that she was strong and brave like Hayley. Caroline wasn't shallow and scared and weak anymore. She fought off a goddamn Hybrid for god sake! A hand picked assassin that was trained to be the best of the best got his ass kicked by someone who started a week ago. That said something.

Caroline carefully got into a crouching position on the window seal, grasping the top of it to maintain balance. Taking a deep breath to prepare herself, she let go, extended her legs and jumped. Time seemed to speed up as fast as it could as gravity pulled Caroline towards the parking lot's tarmac. Before she knew it, she was somersaulting to her feet.

"Woah," she gasped. Cheerleading was a really big help.

"That was incredible!" Rebekah cheered and Caroline ran to throw her arms around her friend.

"Seriously? I thought I was going to die! I mean it's thirty feet! That was exhilarating!"

"Not that silly, I'm talking about you fighting Daniel Warren!" Rebekah exclaimed. "You were so confident and perfectly chic while doing it. Elijah wanted to intervene but I stopped him because I knew you could do it."

"Care!" She heard Bonnie shout after a slam of a car door. Bonnie was hugging her in a second. "Care something happened to your ear piece and you forgot to turn your camera on! I couldn't communicate with you and all the sudden I hear from Rebekah that you're kicking Daniel's ass! Katherine _and_ Elena are going to be so proud!"

"So will the Salvatore brothers," Rebekah added.

"You know how much I love it but let's try to save the girl talk for later," Klaus remarked from behind them. "We've got a criminal on our hands."

Tyler was being restrained by Elijah now and they both approached the girls. Caroline tried her best but couldn't stop herself from hurrying over to Klaus and hugging him as tight as she could.

When he finally returned the favour, Klaus asked her a question, "What's this for?"

"Don't you dare complain," Caroline warned him between breaths, "I thought I was going to lose you to a bitchy werewolf slut. Never do that again, got it? I don't need you dying on your whole family for me."

"I don't take orders from you, love. I'll do anything to keep you safe." Caroline felt Klaus's hands fall lower on her back before holding her tighter. "What happened to staying away? Between just us girls, I think your boyfriend is staring."

"I don't care," Caroline whispered into his neck, "I'm not letting you go."


	15. Chapter 15

Hi I'm writing this intro super fast cause I wanna post. So sorry for the delay! Favourite, follow and Review! Bye!

* * *

"–you're all sick human beings!" Tyler yelled at the top of his lungs. He had been shouting since they got in the car and they were now on the plane, halfway to Virginia. Caroline very much had a headache and a neck-ache. Daniel really squeezed the life out of her. It took all her strength and will to stab him.

"How did you put up with him for… what now?" Rebekah asked while crossing her legs. "Five dreadfully long years?"

"Three years and seven months," Bonnie corrected then muttered, "hopefully not in counting."

Caroline sighed and nodded approvingly, not hearing the second part of her friend's statement. "Thank you Bonnie. I was still dating Matt in senior year while I was sort of talking to him. Then Matt broke up with me and I waited a while before officially calling Tyler my… you know what." Caroline stated softer and cleared her throat.

Tyler was her boyfriend, but he cheated on her. Even if he did it because he thought Caroline was dead, it still hurt. Bad. So bad she hadn't spoken to him, or looked at him. She just flinched when Tyler started yelling out of nowhere. When she did, Klaus would trace patterns on her back soothingly. It felt nice, but in this case, nice was bad.

"Listen to me when I tell you things like this Rebekah. And I didn't put up with him." To be honest, no matter how mad Caroline was, she was still relieved Tyler was safe and sound. At least, for the rest of the night.

Tyler's chains rattled loudly again. He tried to pull away from the handcuffs that were attached to a steel bar above him while he attempted to break the chains around the his ankles. "Let me go or I swear–"

"Swear what little Lock_woof_?" Kol asked tauntingly. "You'll come slaughter the lot of us while we're asleep? It's been attempted before so excuse me if I find that a bit… what's the word Elijah?"

"Pitiful?" He answered, analyzing Tyler while slowly pacing the aisle as if he was a scientist trying to figure out how a different specimen worked.

"Pathetic," Kol remembered.

"Close enough."

"Kol," Tyler laughed while yanking on his restraints, "it's embarrassing that the human race has to identify with you! Laughing at death and disaster without giving a damn about anyone else! The truth is that you act like that to cover up what you truly are. A disappointment to your family. A disappointment to your own goddamn mother! You'll never be as good at your job as Elijah or Klaus or Rebekah. I bet your dad is rolling in his grave–"

"Lockwood, I think you're forgetting who's the one chained up and on his way to endless nights of torture and pain," Kol smiled while cracking his knuckles.

"Do not Kol," Elijah warned his brother as he placed his hand on Kol's.

"Then there's noble Elijah," Tyler continued. "The responsible brother, the reasonable brother, the _good_ brother. Except, maybe not. Just because you wipe your hands after tearing out your victims' throats doesn't make you better than the rest of them. Than the rest of _us_. You're just as much of a cold hearted killer as the rest of your messed up family."

Caroline didn't know what to do, she had never seen Tyler this mad before. Ever. Even when he got mad at her, this was on a whole different level. He was acting like an animal. How was she supposed to control him or at least calm him down? They still needed to have their night together with hugs and cuddles and kisses.

Who was she kidding?

Caroline knew that the night would end up in flames.

"Do not continue to talk about my brothers in such way or I'll rip your tongue from your throat," Rebekah threatened.

"Rebekah, Rebekah, Rebekah. I'd thought by now you'd left. But I mean, it makes sense you're still here. Between your fights with Klaus and your bad luck with men, what chance of happiness do you have anyway? You're just an angry slut who falls for any man who sleeps with you for a quick fuck."

"Tyler if you need to take out your frustration, take it out on me, the rightful owner of your bottled up pain and useless anger. Do not speak of my siblings in such manner ever again." Klaus spoke up after being silent for most of the flight. He was beside her and directly across from Tyler, yet he had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"I thought you'd never ask." Klaus smiled at his response. "Out of the Mikaelsons, you're the worst of them all. You feel successful when people are afraid of you and tremble at your name. Guess what? I don't, not anymore. I know you make people fear you because no one loves you and no one _can_ love you. Elijah and Rebekah have a chance. Maybe even Kol. But you? _Never_. Because you're a son of a bitch. A bastard. Both of your goddamn fathers hated your guts! At least you can consider Kol a person, you're a _monster_ no one will ever love!"

Caroline was officially fed up with Tyler's attitude. He was coming for all her friends that she cared for. She liked the Mikaelsons now, all the ones she knew at least. And Caroline especially couldn't stand to listen to him target one of Klaus's biggest insecurities.

"He's not a monster Tyler!" Caroline shot back. "So quit it already. Klaus is just as human as you and me with human feelings. People around him love him and he can love them just as much! Rebekah can and _will_ be happy. She found Stefan and they're meant for each other! It's also nowhere near your place to tell her about her love life. Elijah isn't innocent but it's not like goes around telling everyone he is. He's well mannered, calm, respectful and neat. That's just who he is, you're not going to change him." Caroline was breathing hard by the end of her statement.

"And Kol," Bonnie added, "he's not a disappointment to anyone. His friends and family love him for who he is. I'm sorry you don't think people need a little enjoyment in life. We can't all be pessimists Tyler."

"This is unbelievable. So now the outsiders are defending the Mikaelsons. My own friends, the people I've known my entire life, betraying me." Tyler shook his head and slumped back into his seat. "And for the worst fucking reasons."

"Like? They were going to kill you Tyler and Care convinced them otherwise," Bonnie informed. "Now you're bad mouthing their family because you're angry at yourself for getting caught. No one needs to put up with that."

"Shut up Bonnie," Tyler growled, "I thought you were the practical one."

"Practical as in sparring your life?" Bonnie scoffed, "you tortured Caroline for who knows how long. You tried to kill her on that goddamn jeep. You tried to murder my best friend and left her to die a slow and agonizing death when it didn't work out and I'm the one that's not practical? I am standing up for the Mikaelsons not because I'm fond of all of them, because I respect them. Klaus and Kol saved Caroline which is more than you can say for yourself. I am keeping you alive for Caroline, Elena, Jeremy and Matt. Those are the only people who want you alive. Not for much longer, once Elena finds out about this, you'll be down to three."

"You're a bitch Bonnie."

Kol stepped forward, "don't talk to her like that!"

"We must respect Caroline's wishes for tonight," Elijah reminded Kol as he stopped him from getting to Tyler.

Caroline took a deep breath and let it out slowly. _The only reason Tyler is acting like this is because he's hurting. Hopefully that's the reason. No, that is the reason. You can calm him down Caroline,_ she thought to herself.

Caroline got up slowly and walked to Tyler and sat beside him. "Ty, I know you're hurt by Bonnie and I turning you in, but it's for your own safety. So you don't die. If you tell them where what you stole is, nothing has to be painful." Caroline put her hand on his thigh after realizing his hands were dangling above his head. "I'm going to be here for you as much as I can be. Okay Ty? Things can go back to the way it used to be."

Daringly, Caroline gingerly kissed his lips, praying to feel something with all of her might.

There was nothing.

Tyler's lips were smooth and warm like usual, but there was no more electricity. Had there ever been in the first place? Maybe in the first year of collage. Caroline couldn't remember. After a second, Tyler returned the favour and kissed her back softly.

When she pulled away, Caroline was none the less disappointed. She thought it would be rainbows and butterflies and magic when they kissed again. It wasn't. Tyler cheated, manipulated her, abused her, left her to die, told someone to kill her and cursed out her friends. He hurt her in every way Caroline could possibly think of. Yet there she was. Kissing him with no feeling or passion.

_It's the first night Caroline. You're still a bit out of it. Forget about this kiss, focus on going home._

After a long second, Tyler rested his head on her shoulder and she sighed in relief. Before closing her eyes to appreciate Tyler's warmth, they caught on Klaus who was wearing an unreadable expression. Caroline lingered on the sight of him, tight grey henley showing off his toned chest, splattered blood around the collar of his shirt. His dirty blonde hair was in a clean mess of curls. Caroline admired his stubble and raspberry coloured lips, Klaus's eyes that were hard and emotionless. And when he looked back at her, her breath hitched.

"You know what Care," Caroline flinched as Tyler started again, "you're almost as bad as Klaus. You're a hypocrite. You claimed to hate any type of violence before, now you're an assassin."

Caroline began to back up slowly, "Tyler, I'm not hurting anyone for fun-"

"What about Daniel, huh? You stabbed him, and punched him and kicked him and _enjoyed_ it."

Caroline gulped and thought, _I-I did enjoy it. Oh God, I enjoyed it. I _wanted_ to hurt him. And when I did, I _liked_ it. I'm turning._

"And you're mad at me for moving on when I thought you were dead but I know you're sleeping with the worst being on this planet, knowing I'm alive!" Tyler panted.

"Tyler I swear I'm not sleeping with anyone! We just kissed, I love you-"

"I can see the way Klaus looks at you! Like a prize or an object! You've been dancing around each other the whole plane ride. You think I didn't see his hands on you throughout the flight and the car ride? What about when you ran to hug him at the hotel like you were in love with him?"

"C'mon Tyler," Caroline pleaded. "Klaus doesn't look at me like anything you're implying. There's absolutely nothing between us. Nothing's ever gonna happen. I swear–"

Tyler yanked his chains again making Caroline jump out of her seat, "I know how desperate you are Caroline, and Klaus preys on the weak minded. It's not a surprise if you let him fuck you like the slutty bitch you are–"

Klaus had his hand around Tyler's neck in a second. "I'll kill you," he growled.

Caroline's eyes widened before yelling, "Klaus stop!"

He didn't. Tyler clenched his teeth, trying to break through his restraints. "You're killing him, get off!" Caroline tried to pull him off, but he wouldn't budge until Elijah helped her out. As Tyler gasped for air, Caroline pushed Klaus's shoulder. "What the hell?! You're not allowed to hurt him!"

"And no one's allowed to hurt you," Klaus countered in a low voice. The back of Klaus's middle finger ran across the bruises on her neck and she winced.

"Stop it," she whispered, "not now. Not with Tyler like this." She felt bad because Klaus was just looking out for her, but at the same time, keeping their distance was the right thing to do especially with Tyler on edge. The last thing Caroline wanted was Tyler causing anymore problems for Klaus.

When Caroline stopped his hand from going any further, he pulled away and stormed out of the room into the back of the plane, slamming the door behind him.

"Nik!" Rebekah called and chased after him, disappearing into the back room.

"Care he needs to sleep," Bonnie sighed after pulling her near the front of the plane, away from Tyler. "He's turning his exhaustion and fear into anger. Hopefully, Tyler'll be better by then."

"Are you going to knock him out?" Caroline questioned warily.

"Yeah but with a drug, a needle if that's okay with you. I know you wanted to spend time with him tonight so much you sold your soul to basically the devil," Bonnie joked with a small smile as she crossed her arms.

"That'll make him better right? Less crazy?"

"Tyler just needs some rest, that's all. This is the fastest way to make it happen. It's perfectly safe. He'll be great by tomorrow."

Caroline nodded, "okay. Do it, but before you go, how did you know?"

"About Tyler torturing you?" Bonnie confirmed and Caroline nodded again. "After you said that him choking you wasn't that important, Rebekah and I figured that he had been hurting you long before Brazil."

There was a short silence before Bonnie gave Caroline a comforting hug, holding her like she'd never let go. They stayed there for a minute or two, enjoying each other's embrace. "I'm so sorry for everything and I really want to talk but let's talk about this with Elena, okay? I got to put that son of a bitch to sleep and you need to go talk to Klaus."

"Okay," Caroline agreed as she let go of her best friend, "I love you."

"Love you too," Bonnie smiled before rushing towards Kol who was looking through a first aid kit.

With that, she walked down the aisle and knocked on the door.

* * *

"Nik?" Rebekah asked as she opened the door, scanning the room to find Klaus standing in front of the huge window leaning on his forearm with a glass of bourbon in hand. "Nik, before you overreact–"

Of course Rebekah would barge in when Klaus wanted to be alone. She never did understand the wish to alone, seeing he had been there for her since the day of her birth. The only thing that would simmer his frustration was painting. That was not possible so in the meantime, bipolar love interests and pesky sisters weren't his ideas of a good time.

However, Rebekah would never go away if he didn't talk to her. Klaus didn't have a choice but to talk to his sister who had an irritating talent to pry everything out of him.

"I am not overreacting to anything dear sister. She's right Rebekah," Klaus admitted in a low voice, swirling his drink with his forehead pressed against the window, seemingly concentrated on the sky, "there is nothing between us."

Rebekah made her way over to him and handed him a notepad, "don't say that Nik..."

Klaus nearly smiled at the gift, she knew him too well. "You heard her, did you not?" Klaus rhetorically inquired. "It's never going to happen. Caroline is madly in love with Tyler Lockwood. I am nothing to her–"

"Stop talking brother. You can't be serious. You're madly in love with Caroline," Klaus tried to protest but his sister didn't even let him start, "and don't try and deny it because everyone already knows."

"I don't care if everyone knows. I'm not surprised she goes around announcing my feelings for her as a trophy," Klaus assumed helplessly. "Caroline Forbes, the one who captured the monster's heart and brought him to his ultimate demise. All because of some petty attraction."

Rebekah leaned against the window. "Everyone knows your love for her is true, Nik. With intentions for good and Caroline knows that as well. Tyler's love for her is an illusion. She's blinded by routine and change terrifies her. Though he's absolutely horrid, Tyler is the same old. Caroline could be hurt but there is no risk of surprise to it."

"Sister how may times does true love have to evade you before you will stop going on and on about it? Go chase after it if that is to be your heart's content. It may very well happen to you, but there's no need to force it on me."

"You're not seriously going to give up on Caroline. Tyler has intentions for her demise and Caroline cannot be more oblivious to it. I can tell he thinks of her as a conquest, looks down on her, abuses her physically and mentally. The girls have all tried and failed, you're the only one getting through to her. Are you going to allow him to destroy her any further?"

"You've seen what happens sister!" Klaus groaned before Rebekah gave him a pencil. "He calls her weak minded, desperate, slut, bitch, and receives her compassion. I try to stop it and instead get quarantined. It's obvious who she favours."

"Are you delusional? When Hayley pointed a gun to your head when you protected Caroline, she scolded you. She said she couldn't lose you and hugged you like you had come back from the dead. Throughout the entire car ride, she held your hand, afraid to let go. Once Tyler called you a monster, Caroline wouldn't have it. How are you certain of her favourites?"

"Even our brainless brother Kol knows it," Klaus downed the remaining bourbon in his glass before sitting in a seat. He began to sketch the frame of a face. "Caroline will always love him, no matter the circumstance. She fears me as does everyone else. Though Caroline denies it, I am a monster to her as I am to them."

"Nik," Rebekah as she took a seat beside her brother, "with Caroline you are selfless, at peace and happy. Do not let Tyler Lockwood deprive you of that. Not a second time. You wish to protect her right? Then don't let him do this to her."

"All I wish to do is protect her, but once Tyler's in the picture, I end up harming her." Klaus let his hands work on their own without thinking of what he was creating. He was extremely grateful for Rebekah's gift. Art allowed him to think more clearly, put things in perspective. "The truth is Caroline is better off with me in New Orleans, there I can no longer cause her pain."

"And she could no longer fall for you," Rebekah pushed. "Caroline does not think of you a monster. The whole world doesn't as well. Our family does not either. Except maybe Finn, he hates us all."

Klaus chuckled a bit, "Finn was always the stubborn one and his wretched wife Sage only made him worse." The more Klaus added to his sketch, the more familiar it got. "Caroline will never fall in love with me as long as Tyler's breathing. I am unable to stop loving her. Seems like quite the catastrophic conundrum."

Rebekah sighed, "or one of the greatest love stories of all time."

"I'm almost certain Damon Salvatore and Elena Gilbert took that title."

"You don't always have to be a smart ass Nik."

"You don't always have to be–" Klaus stopped sketching, for a second to hear the unsure footsteps coming towards the door. He looked back at his drawing of a lady with subtle blonde curls falling over her shoulders. Caroline had soft eyes and a smile that revealed her teeth. "She's coming. Be a dear and tell her I'm occupied."

"You need to talk," Rebekah answered as she got up, "you drew her. By the way, sorry I forgot the watercolour palette. It was in my other purse."

"It's not nice for you to assume I go into a fit of rage every mission, sister."

"It's not nice for you to not even think about bringing things that calm me down to missions," Rebekah replied as she walked to the door.

Three knocks from the other side of the door made Rebekah give Klaus her 'play nice' look. She opened the door and welcomed Caroline with a hug before leaving them together.

"Klaus..." she trailed off.

Klaus didn't bother to look at her. All he would see was her lips on Tyler's and it hurt more than he wanted it to. "What happened to your dire intent to keep your distance, love? Tyler must be restless out there without you kissing him."

"You're mad," Caroline realized.

"I'm not mad sweetheart, that would require feelings. Being there is absolutely nothing between the two of us, I am not angered at you. I feel nothing for you as you do I."

"Seriously? Tyler's going crazy. You know I just said that so he could calm down," Caroline sighed. "I know how you feel about me."

"I am aware and so is everyone else including your ballistic boyfriend!" Klaus rose from his seat, pointing directly at Caroline. "I believe you're trying to eradicate my feelings for you so Tyler doesn't catch on. You're afraid he'll hurt you for refusing to deal with me properly!"

"That's so not it–"

"It's too late now of course considering how indiscreet I am when it comes to you, but you'd want nothing more than to force me to stop feeling for you!"

"Klaus I'm not forcing you to do anything!" Caroline fumed as she made her way towards him until they were inches apart.

"Wanting and putting it in action are two different things. Now that you've gotten bored of waving my feelings for you around like a trophy, you want me to transform into the complete monster I was before I met you so you can confirm to everyone you don't love me!" Klaus explained exasperatedly. Caroline didn't say anything so he continued. "You've proved it already. There will no longer be anything between us–"

A sharp pain against his cheek stopped his words from leaving his lips and Caroline slowly lowered her hand after slapping Klaus. A moment of silence passed as her incredible blue eyes bored into his.

A sigh left her perfect lips before Caroline was wrapping her arms around him. Her arms slid under his and up his torso, encouraging Klaus to return her embrace. Klaus wasted no time to hold her. As his eyes closed, he held her head close to his, drinking in the smell of vanilla in her golden locks.

Caroline rested her chin over his shoulder, "you were never a monster, I didn't do anything to change you. I didn't teach you how to love, your family did. Maybe Camille too." Caroline let out a shaky breath and held him a bit tighter, "if you stop loving me, you won't become a monster."

"I could not stop if it was my deepest desire to," Klaus confessed quietly in her ear.

"And never for a second did I consider using how you feel for me as a trophy in any way. You're my friend, being friend with me would totally suck if I did that. Plus, showing off my Miss Mystic Falls title to Elijah helped a lot more than you ever will," Caroline laughed softly.

Klaus reluctantly let go of Caroline, knowing he couldn't hold onto her forever. and lead her to the seats he and Rebekah were sitting.

"You're leaving soon Klaus and I don't want to spend our last days together fighting about some stupid thing I said or my boyfriend's intentions." Caroline gazed into Klaus's eyes seriously, "Tyler won't hurt me, he's going to change and before you say anything, I'm not scared he's going to hurt me. I was worried he'd hurt himself by wasting his life trying to get back at you for... crushing on me. Tyler could also do something with what he stole from your family, I wouldn't want you guys to suffer even more."

Though he despised Tyler, Klaus didn't think he should be the one telling Caroline what he did to wreak havoc upon his family. At the same time, Klaus thought Tyler would've revealed that he too was formally not only a part of TVD, but a Hybrid, one of Klaus's personal assassins. Klaus himself was not fond of the idea of revealing this to Caroline, perhaps Elijah would take it upon his self.

He pulled out the pad of paper he drew Caroline on earlier and gave it to her. "I will not allow him to harm my family again. I won't let him touch you either." Caroline rolled her eyes at him before looking down to see what he gave her.

"Oh my god," Caroline gaped. "It's me. Klaus did you do this? It's beautiful."

"You're the subject," Klaus looked out of the window amused by Caroline's intrigue in his simple sketch. White specks that were stars contrasted against the dark sky. the The full moon illuminated the black sky, revealing blue, wispy clouds. He would paint the scene tonight. "There is no way diminish your beauty."

"I never knew you were an artist," Caroline told him as she smiled at the drawing.

"You don't know a lot of things about me quite frankly."

"Well," Caroline grinned, "we're going to have to do something about that!"

Klaus groaned, "the last time you 'did something about' what I said, you made a dumb rule that didn't carry out as long as I believe you wanted it to."

"Seriously?! Shut up," Caroline huffed, "it's your turn anyways. It's not my fault you didn't remember."

Klaus smirked, "Seriously. Definition, with earnest intent; not lightly or superficial. Sentence: The only word in the vocabulary of Caroline Forbes is seriously."

"Seriously?!" Caroline exclaimed before slapping her hands over her mouth. "That is so not true! I'm going to pretend you didn't say that and tell you what we're going to do about me not knowing you and you knowing everything about me. I'll ask you a question and you'll answer it."

"Real exciting sweetheart," Klaus laughed quietly, "but I think you get to know your life long partner on a date."

"No, you get to know them before. Not that you're my life long partner or anything," Caroline quickly added. "Tyler has taken that spot."

Klaus scoffed playfully, "come on now, where's your imagination love? You're twenty one, your whole life is ahead of you."

"On to question one, how old are you? And all of your siblings to keep you from talking too much."

"I am twenty four. Freya is twenty eight, Finn is twenty seven, Elijah is twenty five, Kol recently turned twenty two and Rebekah is only months older than you. To continue our previous conversation, I can see why you have someone in mind already. I could not imagine my life without you by my side."

Caroline rolled her eyes, failing to refrain from smiling. "Yeah, okay big guy. Where's _your_ imagination Klaus? Next question, how many people have you dated and do I have to be concerned?"

"What reason is there for you to possibly be concerned? It's all for Tyler anyway."

"I– stop over analyzing things! You like me and jealous exes like Amy freaking Bradley are not my favourite people to deal with especially when we're not doing anything!" Klaus raised an eyebrow, "just answer please, don't say anything else."

"Three and possibly."

"Possibly?!"

"Next question," Klaus hummed, clearly amused.

"Who?"

"Who what?"

"Seriously?" Caroline crossed her arms, "stop playing and be nice. I'm actually trying to get to know you better. Who were your girlfriends?"

Klaus smiled at her frustration, "Tatia Petrova, Camille O'Connell and Aurora de Martel."

"No way," she crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat while smiling sarcastically. "One of the only people you've dated is a Disney princess?"

"Oh I assure you Aurora was royalty," Klaus sighed. "A princess, but not the Disney type. She had crimson coloured hair and pale green eyes. She was the most beautiful girl I had ever laid eyes on."

Caroline shifted in her seat uncomfortably, "I see I'm not the only one you tell that."

"Yes," Klaus continued, "she was the prettiest girl in my fourth grade class."

"Fourth grade? That does not count! You had me for a second."

"Of course it does love and quite the love story we had. Aurora's father was a former assassin then the ruler of one of those small countries in Europe. Also a great ally to my mother when she decided to expand her work to America. Aurora had been sent across the continent to the organization's academy because of her father's little tolerance for bad behaviour."

Raising her eyebrows, Caroline sarcastically nodded. "That's a great start."

"Her clingy and protective older brother Tristan followed, along with their assistant Lucien Castle. I didn't get to know Tristan that well, he was in Elijah's grade, but I did get to know Aurora and Lucien."

"If this is your whole life story, I'll just go to the next question."

"Lucien and I grew close very fast after I saved him from a very intense, nearly deadly game of capture the flag. So close he told me he had feelings for Aurora but could never go through with it because Tristan was an overprotective wanker."

"I'm praying you didn't use that word in the fourth grade."

"Opposed to you calling Mrs. Graham a bitch in the third grade?"

Caroline gasped and hit his arm with the back of her hand. "How did you know that?! That's the only black spot on my record and after they found out that she totally was a bitch for taking down my ninety average to nine, I got her fired!"

"Mrs. Graham was seventy five," Klaus said exasperatedly, "it was a simple mistake."

"I was going to fail the third grade with that! Just continue your dumb story and stop blaming old ladies' stupidity on me," Caroline grumbled.

"By the time my dear friend told me he had been interested," Klaus started to laugh, "I was already sending her poems of my love in morse code and lavender along with them. It was no surprise when Aurora finally confessed she had fallen for me. I was the romantic with my mother's help."

"Then what?"

"Well I officially asked her to be my girlfriend and with no doubt she accepted, quite eagerly in fact. Lucien was jealous but he got over it. Aurora and I were happily in love for a year, despite Tristan's many warnings." Klaus sighed as he remembered what happened next, "then tragedy struck."

"What?" Caroline questioned, now engrossed in the story. "What happened?"

Klaus chuckled and shook his head, "she broke my heart. When Aurora was told to choose between going back to her life as a princess and train as an assassin there. I asked her to stay of course and she told me she'd rather die than stay here and become the monster I was. Aurora, Lucien and Tristan were gone the next day."

"Oh my God…" Caroline trailed off, "I'm sorry."

"Yeah," Klaus exhaled, "it was years ago. She's doing quite well now as the perfect princess of her little country, nonetheless you should be worried about her if you two ever come in contact though I highly doubt it. Although Aurora is royalty, Tristan sporadically locks her up in a tower with monks due to her deteriorating mental health. She is only released when she kills all of them and escapes herself. Overall, Aurora is the embodiment of insanity."

"So you dated a crazy person, a phycologist, and a cheating bitch." Caroline burst out into a laughing fit. "You have great taste, Klaus."

"The third one was not my fault and first loves are always crazy. I mean look at you and Tyler's relationship, love."

"Don't," Caroline warned as she stopped laughing immediately, "Tyler's not crazy. That was rude. Anyways, what about Freya? I mean about your love advice back then, she would've been in the eighth grade. It would make more sense to ask her."

"I did not know of Freya's existence then," Klaus admitted. "My mother had sold my sister's soul to the devil when she turned five and told Mikael and Finn she had died in an accident. Elijah was only around two so he had no memories of her."

"Sold her soul to the devil?"

"My aunt Dahlia," Klaus explained. "Believe me, she was just as bad. When my mother sold Freya to keep the organization from collapsing, Dahlia basically made Freya into her slave for twenty four years of her life."

"Why couldn't she escape? I mean if she was five I get that she wouldn't be able to get out, but when your aunt was twenty four years older?" Caroline gasped, "unless she was being like brainwashed or something."

"Not brainwashed but Dahlia did drug her whenever she tried to leave. Since Freya is a Mikaelson, her strength and abilities were there but Dahlia's concoctions weakened her severely. Long story short, Freya escaped and got herself checked into an asylum in New Orleans. Coincidentally, Rebekah's friend Eva Sinclair was also locked up there. They hit it off, escaped together and Eva sent her to us. We were all reunited and Dahlia was shunned."

"God Klaus, your life is straight out of a movie. Let's do a lighter question. What's your favourite colour?"

Klaus hummed in thought, "let's see. Red, the colour of the blood of my enemies." When Caroline asked him if he was serious, he rethought his answer. "Perhaps it's blue."

"Blue? What kind of blue?"

"The colour of your eyes love," Klaus grinned to himself before turning to Caroline. "They're beautiful."

The colour of Caroline's cheeks noticeably got pinker, "thanks."

Klaus's thumb traced over where the scar of her cheek would be, "I think you should go back. Be there for Tyler. I did promise you a night with him."

"Yeah, uh yeah. That makes sense. I'll go," Caroline announced, standing up quicker than normal. "I'll see you off the plane. Jet. Or whatever."

"I guess so, sweetheart."

Klaus smiled as she clumsily rushed out of the room, taking one look back at him before shutting the door behind her.


	16. Chapter 16

"Klaus let me in!" Caroline pleaded from behind the door of his cold dark cell. "Give him a second to breathe!"

Three days had passed since Caroline found Tyler and she could tell from his groans of pain that his interrogation was not going well for either parties.

Tyler's cell was in the basement of the building where Bonnie and the other witches work. Apparently, barely anyone could know there were cells down there or even that there was a basement so the elevator didn't go down there. You had to take the stairs if you wanted to get there, so Caroline used that as an excuse to avoid the situation.

When Caroline was there, all she could hear was the evidence of her boyfriend's misery and one of the Mikaelsons demanding an answer out of him or inflicting pain.

The Mikaelsons had a system where they alternated between each other every hour or two from six in the morning to ten in the night. It was Mikaelson after Mikaelson after Mikaelson after Mikaelson until ten pm. That was the only time they would leave Tyler at all. When three of them weren't working him, they would go and discuss what to do with Esther.

Caroline had a good reason to believe that all of them were anything but gentle with him. She wanted to stay close, to be there for Tyler, but it was harder than she thought. So instead, Caroline tried to keep herself busy with anything else.

She trained by herself a lot of the time, practicing all the things Klaus had already taught her for hours at a time. Caroline worked with Alaric and Elena for some time everyday, it was a lot different than what Klaus practised with her. She worked with Stefan once on the first day back before he and Damon went off on a mission with Bonnie, back to that Nova Scotia place.

With Bonnie gone, Caroline couldn't bring herself to tell Elena about what Tyler did. Elena was already upset with Damon running to potential danger and Caroline decided not to put more on her friend's mind.

She and Katherine cleaned their whole room with Elena while playing truth or dare, being that Elijah, Rebekah, Klaus, Bonnie, Stefan and Damon were all occupied and there was nothing to do. Caroline snuck into the Mikaelson estate to organize Klaus's Henleys as a dare for Katherine. She was very glad she didn't get caught, but she did leave a note for Klaus telling him which one was her favourite.

She did start planning Klaus's goodbye ball though there wasn't an exact date for when Klaus was leaving. Caroline chose to plan for the near future seeing that Tyler was in so much pain, it was obvious he would break soon enough. She _wanted_ him to break so he could _rest_ and she could negotiate what to do with him. Caroline had already decided that the ball would take place in the Mikaelson home for two reasons. It was huge _and_ didn't need to be rented out on a specific date. Plus it was Klaus's home, it only made sense.

Caroline wanted to ask Klaus about the flower arrangements and decorations, —not clothing because everyone would have to wear grey probably— but she was avoiding him too.

Ever since the jet incident, Klaus made her feel… different. All Klaus did was tell her his favourite colour and hold her face, but Caroline wanted to kiss him. The only reason she didn't was because he told her to back to Tyler. When she kissed Tyler, she felt nothing, when Klaus looked at her, she felt everything. Caroline told herself it was just because her reuniting kiss with Tyler was bad, but was it? If that was the reason, why was Caroline avoiding him?

After three days of trying to be away from Klaus, she was in front of the door that lead to Klaus and Tyler. She drove to Mystic Falls with Matt, hung out with him and her mom and before they left, she got Tyler his favourite coffee and chicken alfredo from The Grill incase they had been starving him, which they probably were. Caroline could hear Tyler's heavy breathing, but Klaus was silent.

"Klaus it's dark and I'm freezing–"

The door swung open and Klaus emerged from the cell with a suede jacket in hand, "take my jacket love." Before Caroline could object he was already putting it around her shoulders. Klaus's hands ran down the side of her arms slowly, "what do I owe the pleasure?"

Caroline could feel his breath hot against the side of her neck and to make sure she didn't make a big mistake, Caroline shrugged him off of her and created some distance between them. "I didn't know you could hear me through all of that screaming."

"You are aware it's only necessary," Klaus countered, folding his hands behind his back.

Caroline didn't reply as she observed Klaus carefully. "That's my favourite," she said quietly. "The Henley, I mean."

"I saw the note love and I won't ask you how you managed to break into my house to colour code them. I wasn't sure if you would see it seeing that you've been quite obviously avoiding me until now."

"You're gone all the time," Caroline pointed out, "either torturing my boyfriend or talking to the woman who wants to kill me who happens to be your mom. I'm sorry if I think I should stay away from you for a while."

A smile ghosted Klaus's lips and Caroline snapped her eyes away from them, "I think it's good you're getting use to me not being around considering I won't be around for much longer–"

"I'm here to see Tyler, Klaus," Caroline interrupted wanting to forget about Klaus leaving.

"There's a window right over there," Klaus walked her over to a small opening at the top of the door. "It's quite the view isn't it?"

Tyler was chained to the wall with a ledge on it. He shirtless and his chest along with the rest of his body was bloody and bruised. When Tyler glanced up at her, he looked totally defeated.

"Oh my God…" Caroline gasped and reached to open the door. "I have to talk to him."

"I'll come with you," Klaus suggested.

"No. I'm going alone. He doesn't need you looming over him for the only second he has to breathe. Tyler needs a little comfort," Caroline held up the coffee and takeout box. "Maybe this way he could tell me something important, then you could stop hurting him."

Klaus held onto her arm as she tried to open the door again. "He could hurt you and I don't intend to be responsible for an 'accident' waiting to happen."

"Tyler's chained up, what's the worse that can happen? I have to try for Tyler _and_ your family's sake. Just trust me and don't hang around listening to us. I'll be out soon." Caroline didn't let Klaus answer as she slipped through the door and shut it behind her.

As Klaus's footsteps receded, Tyler spoke up. "I thought you forgot about me."

"I've known you all my life Ty, how could I?" Caroline answered as she made her way towards him until she sat down in front of him. "I made a promise to be here for you and I'm not going break it."

"And I yelled at you after. I thought after you ran to Klaus crying, you'd decide otherwise," Tyler added sarcastically.

Caroline sighed, ignoring his comment, "we all have our moments. I brought this for you, from The Grill." Tyler tried to subtly nod as she handed it to him, but Caroline could tell he was excited about the food. "Have you eaten at all?"

"Only enough to keep me awake or alive," Tyler answered as he began to eat. "Only Elijah gets someone to give me a cap full of water. The rest of those monsters didn't care enough."

Caroline looked at Tyler, chained up and bruised with cuts and scars of gashes covering his body. "Do they hurt?" Caroline asked after a minute of silence. "The bruises?"

Tyler finished a mouthful before answering, "yeah, they do."

"What do they do to you?"

"Everything," Tyler motioned towards a table covered with different knives and sharp pokey things. "Kol likes to try everything on me as much as he can, Rebekah usually sticks to one knife. Elijah spends more time asking questions than he does hurting me, but he refrains from using tools, there's more chance of his hands getting dirty. Elijah likes kicking me until I bleed."

"That sounds awful," Caroline commented grimly. They really were a family brutal killers with no remorse. "You must be lightheaded from the blood loss. How do they control that?"

"Bonnie gave them pills to give me," Tyler muttered lowly, "helps me stop bleeding quicker. It makes it easier for the Mikaelsons to torture me. Especially Klaus…"

"How did you get here, Ty?" Caroline interrupted, changing the subject because she didn't want to talk about Klaus. "How did you get involved in all of this? I know you're not an assassin and you just got caught up in something but in order to–"

Tyler stopped her and dryly chuckled, "what do you mean you know I'm not an assassin? Care, not only am I an assassin, I'm a _hybrid_. Same as Daniel and a whole lot of others. Handpicked by the almighty. I thought you already caught on since everyone else from Mystic Falls is here."

Caroline should've guessed it. It was stupid to believe he was in the dark like she was. Just like everyone else, Tyler was just like everyone else. She couldn't believe he didn't tell her. They were dating, Caroline thought there were no secrets between them. There should've been no secrets, assassination organization or not.

"What do you mean I should've caught on?!" Caroline fumed frustratedly. "Are you seriously telling me you wanted me to expect the worst of you? I'm sorry I was trying to be optimistic, I'm sorry I decided to trust you."

"Let's be real, Care. It's stupid of you to not have thought about it–"

"N-no one told me," Caroline countered defensively. "No one said _anything_. If everyone said nothing, why would I even dream to think that you were an assassin? Bonnie didn't say anything, Alaric didn't say anything, Stefan didn't say anything, even Damon didn't say anything–"

"Bonnie and Alaric weren't there when I was. Bonnie was with you and Elena at Whitmore. Alaric was _teaching_ at Whitmore. Stefan and Damon came right after I left and I'm guessing that dick pried it out of Klaus somehow and was sworn to secrecy." Tyler sighed, "honestly, I don't want to deprive you of your optimism. It's all Klaus's fault like usual–"

"It is _not_ all his fault! Stop blaming Klaus for every knot in our relationship Ty! You should've told me once you started!" Caroline shot back, "we're dating, we don't have secrets! We're not supposed to! It's supposed to be us as a team. You know everything about me and I guess I know nothing about you…"

"I was protecting you! I didn't want to drag you into this!"

"So compulsively lying is the only way you could protect me? If you didn't notice, we're literally in a dungeon owned by assassins! So nice going Tyler. You did a _real_ _great_ job of protecting me."

"What about Klaus?" Tyler questioned. "You guys are such good friends, why didn't _he_ tell you?"

Caroline remembered the jet ride back from Brazil. Klaus wasn't telling her about Tyler because he didn't know if she loved him enough to overlook all the things he's done. Now that Caroline already told Tyler it was dumb that he was protecting her by keeping this from her, how was she supposed to answer the question Tyler asked?

"Klaus should've told me, but he didn't because he–"

"He was protecting you?" Tyler scoffed, "do you understand what you're saying? Care we have the exact same explanations, you're such a hypocrite! Why the hell are you choosing Klaus over me–"

"No," Caroline hissed, "because he thought I didn't love you enough! He thought I couldn't handle the truth."

Tyler nodded, "so still in a way, _protecting_ you from me."

"Oh my God…"

"Why do you even trust anything Klaus says? Do you know anything about him?"

"I do," Caroline stated firmly.

_Not before three days ago you didn't._

A laugh escaped Tyler's lips, "what, like his favourite colour? Or how old he is? What about his family? Not his siblings but his parents? His dad? What about how many people he's killed? How many families he's hurt?"

Caroline knew Tyler had a good point. She still barely knew anything about Klaus, but she wasn't about to back down. "What about you Tyler? You hurt his family! I'm trying to help you fix it so you don't wind up dead!"

"He hurt my family too!"

"How on Earth did Klaus hurt your family, Tyler?" Caroline let out a noise of frustration and sighed. "You have to accept that you stole something from the Mikaelsons for no reason and aren't giving it back so I can get you out of this."

"He killed my mom Care!" Tyler yelled so loud Caroline froze in place, not even daring to breathe. "He killed my mom and I rightfully retaliated! So no, I don't think I'll be giving your best friend what he wants!"

_No, no, no. Klaus killed Tyler's mom? That's impossible. She drowned because she got way too drunk at a Christmas party, right? It said so on the death certificate. Unless Klaus drowned her… That was more than possible. So on the jet, Klaus just let me tell him about Tyler's mom and her dying without batting an eye? So what if Tyler's mom was a huge bitch and disrespected my mom and disapproved of me and Tyler's relationship? That doesn't mean she should've died. His mom was all he had left and Klaus purposely took that away from him._

"Didn't know that, huh?" Tyler shook his head and growled, "Come back when you've learned anything about Klaus. Then maybe we can talk."

* * *

As an angry blonde stormed up the hill towards Klaus, he wondered what Tyler had said about him to irritate her so greatly. It had been two hours since Klaus left Caroline to converse with Tyler to see if she could find anything out. He severely doubted it since he caught her furiously stalking out of the building not more than fifteen minutes after.

Klaus would've confronted her then, but he, his siblings and his mother needed to have a meeting about the Tyler situation. Esther suggested that if Tyler did not reveal anything by the first of November, they should resort to other tactics such as harming loved ones. Since Tyler's mother and father were both quite frankly dead, Klaus was aware his mother was referring to Caroline. All of his siblings caught on as quick as him and refused to harm Caroline in any way, which he was secretly grateful for.

Esther brushed off their disagreement, knowing it would be difficult to argue off all four of them at once, but said that she had already talked to Cami and decided that Klaus should be ready to go to New Orleans by the end of the first week of November, mission accomplished or not. He told himself he would find him before he left, but with such little time and such a stubborn little dog, he wasn't so sure.

Klaus sighed as he stood up to greet her, mentally preparing himself for an over dramatic lecture about who knows what. "Hello Caroline, how did your chat with Tyler go? Was it as horrific as mine?"

Caroline stopped two feet in front of him, careful not to come any closer. When Klaus sae the look on her face, he grew a bit concerned. Caroline's expression was full of frustration, confusion and betrayal. For a second, Klaus wondered if it was Tyler who caused her to feel that way.

"What's wrong love?" Klaus asked, his voice a bit softer than before.

It was silent for more than a moment as Caroline avoided looking at him directly, as if she was searching for the right words. "Tell me you didn't do it," was all she said, her irritation radiating off her.

So it wasn't Tyler. It was him, as expected.

"That answer might require what 'it' refers to love. I've done a lot of things, but most definitely did not steal your little yellow agenda disguised diary," Klaus sarcastically avoided her eyes. "Now that would be rude."

"It is an agenda! I stopped keeping a diary once I hit the ninth grade! An agenda has plans, and my schedule and my to-do list. It just has a few little heartfelt notes when I get down or have no one to talk to. How do you even know about my agenda–" Caroline looked like she was about to explode in annoyance when she saw his smile out of the corner of her eye, immediately causing her to stop rambling. "Stop trying to throw me off guard!"

Klaus slowly made his way towards her until they were inches apart, causing Caroline's breath to hitch the way it always did around him since the rainforest. "Of course love. You have all of my attention. We both know how cross you get without it."

Though Caroline's ears got a bit red, she refused to break eye contact with him and took a deep breath before finally speaking again. "Klaus, please tell me that you didn't kill Tyler's mom?"

A smug smile returned to his face, "so what if I did?"

Caroline immediately shoved him away from her and he groaned, nearly rolling his eyes. She could be so overdramatic at times. Klaus thought Caroline wanted not to fight on his last days here. "Why the hell would you do that to him?!"

"So I'm guessing Tyler didn't reveal any coordinates…"

"Why should he Klaus?" Caroline hissed, "you killed his mom! His own damn mother! Are you completely out of your mind?!"

So Tyler informed Caroline about him murdering Mayor Lockwood. The reaction seemed well over the top for someone that's been dead for years and wasn't even remotely related her. Carol was but only her boyfriend's mother.

Klaus folded his hands behind his back, "believe me love, all was completely fair. I murdered her for a very good reason."

"What could possibly let you off the hook for this?! She was all Tyler had and you ripped it away from him! His dad was dead, his uncle was dead too, his mom was his whole family! How would you feel if Tyler took away your whole family?"

"Love–"

"No Klaus! No, no, no, no, no! None of that now!" Caroline paused to breathe, calming herself down before continuing. "No love, no sweetheart, no pet names. I stood up for you against him and you made me look like a total clown for it."

Klaus smirked, "what were you defending me for?"

Caroline sighed, "he said it was all your fault that I didn't know that he was an assassin. I disagree."

"Well thank you for your statement," Klaus joked.

She glared at him before adding, "It was partly your fault, but Tyler was the one that should've told me. He's my boyfriend and we were supposed to have no secrets. Tyler told me he was keeping it from me to protect me which I called total bullshit, but then he got mad when he thought you didn't tell me about him working with you for the same thing."

"I did do it to protect you partially. I also did it to save your already crumbling relationship with Tyler out of the little goodness in my heart and you being quite angry with me heavily impacted my decision. I wanted and still want you to create and form your own opinion on him without me influencing you too much. If you ever allow yourself to feel for me, I would want you to want me not because of what Tyler's done, but because you've realized what you really desire."

Caroline hesitated a second before regaining her composure, "well that's what I told Tyler and he got even more mad and asked me why I trusted you and if I even knew anything about you."

"Trust_ed_?" Klaus inquired while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes trusted as in the past tense of trust," Caroline confirmed. "Tyler is right about that. I barely know anything about you. Like your family or your life. What you've done and what you want to do. On the flight home from Brazil, I talked to you about Tyler's mom and I couldn't even tell that you were probably remembering how you killed her in cold blood! If you constantly keep things from me, I can't trust you Klaus."

Klaus's eyes darkened as his patience thinned. He kept things from Caroline either because of her safety, or her 'happiness' with Tyler. "If that is so, why don't you go break your lover out of his cell?"

"I would but I can't!" Caroline exclaimed exasperatedly. "Tyler said that I should only come back when I know what he stole from you which might never happen because you're _so_ good at sharing things."

"Careful Caroline…"

"It's your fault Tyler stole it! You went and killed his mom, you took away all he had left! His joy and happiness and part of his humanity! It's only logical he took some _object_ or artifact your family liked in return!" Caroline eyes met his with a stare that looked more disappointed than angry. "Klaus, I hope you realize it was your own fault that Tyler stole whatever is was from your family! Can you even imagine how Tyler felt like–"

"I don't need to imagine," Klaus cut in, wanting to hear no more of how he wronged Tyler without reason. "You've got the wrong story love–"

Scoffing, Caroline's eyes widened in utter disbelief. "Are you seriously going to turn this on Tyler?! You killed his fucking mom! You two are more alike than you think and not in the good ways for that matter!"

"I'm not turning this on Tyler, he turned this mess on me!" Klaus yelled, making Caroline snap her mouth shut. A flicker of fear flashed through her eyes cause Klaus to instantly regret raising his voice. He closed his eyes for a second calm himself down. "He came for me first."

Caroline opened her mouth, most likely to make a quick, snarky remark, but closed it soon after. She broke away from his gaze, sighing as she sat down on the grassy hill. More than a moment of silence passed and Klaus unsurely took a seat at her side.

"I-I don't want to be biased," Caroline told him, "so would you like to tell me how?"

"As you know, Tyler was a Hybrid," Klaus started, "one of my most trusted ones at that. He was given all the perks. I allowed him to blow off tons of missions every month so he could go visit his girlfriend at Whitmore, increased his salary graciously considering what he earned previous to my knowledge of his existence. I let Tyler in on my family's secrets and well being… I talked to Tyler about my father, I even once payed him out of my own pocket so he and his girlfriend could go somewhere nice. She had never been out of the state."

"Tyler barely visited me while I at Whitmore," Caroline commented. "He came maybe once or twice a year. I saw Damon more than him."

Klaus nodded, "after the following incidents, I found out that Tyler had been plotting with The Other Side behind my back. They planned to convert all my Hybrids to their side so they could all attack and kill me. It was all for a bigger scheme of course. My mother and the rest of my family would be devastated at my death, giving The Other Side an opening to strike at a moment of weakness. I myself, of course wouldn't be there to help because I would be six feet under."

Caroline sighed, "two birds with one stone. But why would Tyler do that? He's… he was loyal. Why would he just try to kill you out of no where?"

"I am unaware of that, but have no doubt that all will be revealed with time. With myself being unsuspecting, all of my Hybrids cornered me in an old underground cellar one night, excluding Tyler and attempted to kill me. They did anything but succeed and that's why I set the place on fire, thinking I killed all of them. I assume Tyler figured something was wrong, since he wasn't waiting where he said he would be and was gone. Little did I know he hadn't left empty handed."

"What did he take?" Caroline asked, curiosity lacing her serious question.

Klaus hated remembering this, it made him weak and angry and vulnerable. "My mother was at an overnight conference across the country, Elijah, Rebekah and Kol were all on missions elsewhere I was the only one home and I should've been more careful," Klaus's voice cracked and he cussed himself out mentally.

"Klaus?" Caroline questioned as if she was making sure he was okay. She slowly took his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Tell me what happened."

Klaus looked down, refusing to let Caroline see how weak he was. "I got back at past two am and went on with my life. It was only in the morning when I went to go wake him up, I found out that he was no longer in his bed."

"Who? Who wasn't in the bed?"

"Henrik. My youngest brother."

A confusion filled Caroline's words, "there's another Mikaelson?"

"Perhaps there's one less," Klaus remarked. "I asked my whole family that morning, none of them knew where he was. I scoured the entire place without end, blindly interrogating any innocents in arms reach. Henrik was only ten, it was simply impossible he could've have gotten far on his own and there was no reason that would trigger him to run away. Then everything clicked when I discovered a note telling me that Tyler had taken Henrik."

Caroline softly gasped, "oh my God…"

"My younger brother and I were very close, it wasn't hard to believe after attempting to kill me didn't work, Tyler would try to make me suffer and feel pain as if I was dying," Klaus forced out, his voice breaking at the end of his sentence. "So you see, Tyler stole _my_ joy, _my_ happiness, a part of _my_ humanity as well, I simply returned the favour when he denied my many attempts of peaceful negotiations."

Her hand traveled to his chin in long seconds and she turned his face towards hers. Undeniable electricity pulsed through his veins from Caroline's simple touch and he saw her swallow before letting out a shaky breath.

As their eyes locked, Caroline returned her hand to his. "I know it doesn't help at all but I'm _so_ sorry Tyler did this to you. It's so horrible and I can't believe he'd ever even _think_ of fucking _kidnapping_ your little brother! It's completely up insane and totally unacceptable!"

Klaus smiled a bit at Caroline's anger for him and gave her hand a squeeze which she glared at him for. "Killing his mom as a retaliation was wrong and way out of line too, so don't think for a second I'm not still mad about that. Either way, I'm going to make this right. I don't care if you're off in New Orleans by then or not, I will find Henrik and bring him back to you, no matter what."

* * *

"Thanks for all being here," Caroline started, not letting any notice how nervous she was. "It means a lot."

In front of her were her Mystic Fall friends. Elena, Bonnie, Stefan, Matt, Jeremy, Alaric, and Damon. Caroline had already told Katherine three nights ago while Bonnie and the Salvatore brothers were gone.

After coming clean to Katherine and Rebekah about what her and Tyler's relationship looked like, everything he said to her, everything he did to her, they convinced her to tell her friends from Mystic Falls what was really happening between the two.

Caroline wasn't sure at first, all Tyler had did was lie to her and… abuse her, but once she heard about him kidnapping a ten year old kid because he couldn't kill her best friend, that was where he crossed the line. Well, not best friend. She was really mad at him for killing her boyfriend's mom, no matter the reasons. Even if Caroline wasn't mad at Klaus, he wasn't her best friend. Maybe a good friend or just a friend…

Caroline didn't want to get herself too attached to him after the jet looking in each other's eyes thingy. Even when she confronted Klaus about the death of Tyler's mom yesterday, a deep sense of need lingered within her. Caroline wanted to slap him so hard, he wouldn't be able to see out of his left eye, but she was afraid if she did that she might also rip off his clothes and let him fuck her right there.

To keep herself from doing that, Caroline left him with her promise and had been avoiding him since.

Now that she promised to find Henrik, she needed all of her friends' help. Rebekah and Katherine had already agreed, Caroline guessed it wouldn't take Elijah or Kol very much convincing, but the Mystic Falls gang? There was no reason for them to help. That was why she needed to tell them about Tyler and everything he's done. That they couldn't let a child pay for his evil deeds. Caroline wasn't going to put him on death row, she still loved him. Very much. He was her boyfriend after all.

"Yeah Caroline, it's no problem," Jeremy answered, "but why the hell are we in Bonnie's penthouse instead of you and Kat's place?"

Caroline rolled her eyes at the little Gilbert for asking such a stupid question. "Bonnie has way more space here than I do at my place. Plus, Katherine and Elijah are occupied…"

Everyone in the room groaned at the thought and Caroline grimaced at the reaction. "Don't they have a room to themselves?" Alaric asked. "I'm pretty sure your building is the one with thicker walls."

"Well Katherine does have her own room, but they also tend to move around a bit, I think they like to get creative…"

The groaning started again before Stefan stopped them. "I think that's enough of Katherine and Elijah sex for tonight. What's up Care?"

"Yeah," Damon unnecessarily added while he put his arm around his girlfriend who was subtly cuddling with him on the couch. "I'm pretty sure Elena and I have many things to be occupied with as well, barbie."

Jeremy shook his head disapprovingly as Elena giggled and told Damon to stop. "I didn't need to hear that, dude. She's my sister."

"Neither did I," Matt agreed, "dick."

"What so our blonde bombshell over here gets to talk about your other sister slutting it up with Elijah but when I barely say anything at all and Buffy and Ken, the fool and a half, get mad at me?"

"Damon!" Elena scolded as she sat up. "Katherine may be your ex, but that doesn't make her any less of my sister. She isn't 'slutting it up' with Elijah. They're practically married from what she tells me."

"Please." Damon rolled his eyes sarcastically. "We all know Kitty-Kat is a psychotic, evil, vampire slut."

"Don't be a green eyed monster, Damon." Bonnie crossed her arms as he sat up immediately, "you just sound like you're jealous of their relationship. If you're going to have that attitude, you can forget about your little pancakes and vinyl records breakfast with me on Sunday."

Stefan sighed, "in their defence Damon, Katherine is not a vampire or psychotic. Completely psychotic I mean. In his defence, Katherine is an evil bitch."

Damon nodded at Stefan in agreement before turning back to Bonnie. "First of all, don't nickname, Witchy. That's my thing–"

"Of course Stefan is defending whatever Damon says," Matt muttered under his breath.

"Okay Matt," Stefan started, "I know you don't like me because I kill people for a living and that's not exactly living up to your code of chivalry and I also stole Elena from you, but why wouldn't I defend my brother?"

Caroline spotted Alaric glancing at Jeremy before handing him his flask and she let out a noise of frustration that no one seemed to hear.

Elena cut in before Matt could answer, "let's not bring that up. That was in high school and now we're all done college, except for Jer, but we're all training to kill people for a living, so now is not exactly the time to be judgmental."

"Sorry," Matt apologized half heartedly, "I'm still trying to get used to it all."

"Well join the club," Damon told him, "there's about eight of us now."

"Stop! Okay?!" Caroline's words silenced them as she took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "I got you all here because, I love you. All of you. And I need your help, but before I get into that, I need to come clean about something."

Her audience was now silent and Caroline took another deep breath as she considered backing out. Bonnie gave her a slight nod of reassurance and she smiled gratefully.

"I've been lying to all of you for a while, about me and Tyler and our relationship. I know we– I mean _I_ acted like I was okay, Tyler was totally fine, but I wasn't." Caroline saw everyone's interest piqued and she continued. "Our first year together was fine, great actually. I had everything I wanted, until year two. Tyler started to get really mad and frustrated and I was the easiest target for him to take his anger out on. First he just slammed doors and yelled at me, then he started cornering me and banging on walls beside my face. Then he actually started hitting me, and before I knew it, I had become his personal punching bag. Tyler used me to take out his physical frustration and soon enough, sexual frustration or in other terms, he raped me, on too many occasions." Caroline rambled quickly, not wanting to realize and come to terms with what she was saying.

"I know what you're all thinking so before you ask, here's why I didn't tell you. I didn't want you to hurt him and I still don't. I also hate playing the victim card, this whole situation sound like total bullshit." Caroline laughed dryly, "this was partly my fault. I was so blinded by my love for him, the thought of leaving Tyler never crossed my mind. I also didn't want the most important people to me, see me as weak. The thought of being looked at and treated like damaged goods scared and revolted me, but here I am now. I'm sorry for lying."

Elena stood up from her seat and walked slowly towards her. Caroline was afraid Elena was going to slap her and start crying that she accused her childhood friend of rape, but instead she hugged her. Her huge brown eyes were a bit watery as she held Caroline. "Oh my God Care, you should've told me. I can't believe I just let Tyler do this to you right in front my eyes. I'm a horrible best friend, I can't–"

"This isn't your fault Elena," Caroline reassured her as Elena lead her to sit with her and Damon. As she saw Elena's reaction, she felt tears well up in her eyes. "Don't start crying or I will."

Bonnie got up and sat on the other side of Caroline, taking her hand and squeezing it. "Don't worry, we're all here for you. Right guys?"

Stefan sighed as he stood up from his seat, "I'm leaving."

Caroline nodded slowly. She thought maybe Jeremy or Matt would be the ones to hate her after this, not Stefan. "I'll see you later then."

"Yeah, where exactly are they keeping Tyler and how many torture devices can I use on him at once? Or can I just kill him?"

Damon grabbed his arm and pulled himself to his feet, "no need to get antsy Stef. While you calm down, I'll go kill him myself."

A small laughed escaped her lips before she sniffled and warned the Salvatores, "guys. Alaric, Matt, Jer?"

"I think that because he did that to you," Alaric started after taking his flask from Jeremy, "Tyler's a bigger dick than Damon and that's saying something."

"I second that," Jeremy agreed. "I'm not going to go kill him, but Tyler's a dick for pulling that shit on you Care."

Caroline gave them an appreciated look, "what about you Matt? I'm not asking you to hate him or kill him or shun him, I just wanted to stop keeping this from you."

Matt scoffed, "I thought we got rid of the Tyler that screwed my sister and made out with my mom once he started dating you. I guess not. I'm sorry for all that you went through Care."

"Thanks, all of you, but there's more. It's about Klaus." Groans echoed around the room and Caroline sighed out an apology.

"Don't worry blondie, I got you." Damon winked at her quickly, "by the power rested in me, I give you my blessing to get the fuck out of Tyler's grasp, and into Klaus's. From one overly possessive alpha male to another."

"No," Caroline glared at him, "at the moment, I despise him just as much as some of you do and I'm sure this won't help with convincing you to help me, but Klaus murdered Tyler's mom. Yeah, I know and I absolutely hate him for it so don't think that this is charity work because he was my friend. But, the reason why he killed Mrs. Lockwood was because Tyler converted all of Klaus's personal assassins and trainees to TOS and convinced them to kill him. It didn't work so Tyler kidnapped ten-year-old Henrik Mikaelson, Klaus's brother."

After a long, drawn out, dreadful silence, Bonnie spoke up. "So what is this favour?"

"I'm going to find him," Caroline stated firmly, "and I'll need all of your help."

Matt shook his head in confusion, "c'mon Care, be rational. Why should we help the murderer of our friend's mom?"

"I am being rational Matt! Henrik is a kid, he shouldn't be the collateral damage! He should be like twelve or thirteen now, he's been away from his siblings for years, his _mom_ for years just because Tyler couldn't kill _Klaus_."

"At least the guy has a mom," Jeremy commented. "Carol was the only family Ty had left. Henrik has a mom and too many siblings to count."

"Care, this isn't exactly a place for a kid to grow up," Bonnie added.

Caroline scoffed as she stood up abruptly, "seriously guys?! How can you think that Henrik living in some crappy jail cell for the rest of his life, which is ticking down by the second now that we captured Tyler, is better than here?! He deserves to be with his family. If you guys have kids, would you think them being kidnapped was a better fate than this? We're not here by choice and neither was Henrik. I'm sure if we find him, we can make a small part of this hell into a heaven. Plus he's a Mikaelson, he's already used to this."

Elena nodded slowly, "I don't really know Klaus. All I know is his family is much bigger than mine and he loves them more than anything, he killed Tyler's mom who was a very important person in all of our lives, and that he has been in the worst pain ever since his brother was kidnapped. When I thought Jeremy died in the house fire that I caused, I felt like I had died a hundred times and he must've been feeling that for years. I want a kid of my own someday and I wouldn't stop at anything to find them. I'd rather them here with me, than with anyone else. I'm in Care."

"I hate Tyler, I didn't care for Carol, what's keeping me from finding Klaus's baby brother? On top of that, where my lady goes, I go. Rules to keep it simple," Damon stated.

Stefan smiled at Caroline warmly, "and I follow my brother to keep him out of trouble. Henrik is innocent, unfortunate collateral damage. That doesn't sit right with me. Rebekah must be hurting too and I'd like to stop that."

"Like Elena said," Alaric shrugged, "if Meredith and I had a kid, I'd like them here too. In a place where, they're not being hurt. I'll do what I can to help."

Bonnie crossed her arms, "I'm in too, seeing that I'm the only one qualified enough to find him, but we have to make a space for him and all future kids to come. It wouldn't be a surprise if Henrik could throw a knife better than me, but for others? They'll have to ease into this assassin deal."

Jeremy sighed, "Kol's my best friend and despite Klaus, that's Kol's brother. I'm in."

"So am I," Matt put in. "Tyler's an ass, mother or not. Kidnapping kids because you couldn't kill a guy isn't okay."

"Yay, goodie!" Caroline exclaimed clapping her hands excitedly. "Time to make a plan!"

"–But how do we know the kid's not dead already?" Matt asked.

Caroline paused, thinking for a second. "Tyler would've told Klaus to spite him… but why _do_ they want him alive? Someone at TOS needs Henrik alive for something."

"Maybe for bargaining purposes?" Bonnie suggested. "Gives them something to threaten the Mikaelsons with."

"That makes sense," Caroline agreed while nodding, "but why would they wait so long instead of making the trade immediately? All TOS wants is to take over TVD right? I wonder what's keeping them…"

"At least we have more time to look for him," Stefan commented and Caroline nodded.

"Okay, you guys brainstorm and I'll go find Bonnie's big white board." Though she seemingly shrugged the question off, but it lingered in Caroline's mind. Was there a bigger reason Henrik was being kept there, and if so, what was it?


	17. Chapter 17

"I need a favour," Caroline told Klaus sternly after dragging him out of a meeting with Elijah, Rebekah and his mom. Kol must've been in the torture chamber with Tyler at the moment.

Caroline's hope for Tyler's wellbeing was dwindling faster than she wanted to admit and she had to do something. Caroline never got to seeing him like he asked, she didn't know if it was because she was stressing about Klaus, or because seeing him was the last thing she wanted to do. Tyler insulted her and then told her about his mom so she wouldn't notice it in the moment. Now the longer Caroline did think about it, the more fury stirred within her.

At this moment in time, Tyler wasn't on her mind, Klaus was. Only because it was totally embarrassing to be asking him for something after she purposely didn't even looked at him since he told her about Henrik two days ago. She also needed to confirm to her friends that this was not charity work, it was because she wanted to, despite Klaus.

An amused and curious look appeared on his face, "what would be so important that you needed to pull me away from my dear mother who'll now despise you even more than previously? If you wish to see Tyler, you'll have to ask Kol. He's the one with your beloved boyfriend. Now I must return to my disastrous family meeting–"

"No," Caroline replied sharply, not wanting to waste anymore time with him than needed. "I didn't want to see Tyler, I wanted to see you."

Caroline grimaced as she heard her words come out and a smug smirk came to Klaus's lips. "I thought you hated me love," Klaus teased as he tauntingly moved closer to her. His hand rubbed her arm slowly.

"You know I didn't mean it like that… I'm mad at both of you. You're a mom murderer and he's a kidnapper. Both are terrible. I still… hate you."

As Klaus smiled at her once more, he moved towards her ear, his nose grazing past her cheek. Caroline bit her tongue to refrain from letting a soft moan slip. Her skin was on fire from his touch. It was like he was trying to tempt her to give in! Unbelievable!

"After you learned about Carol Lockwood I wasn't so sure you'd come back."

It took all of Caroline's physical and mental strength to push Klaus away from her. "I'm not coming back," she hissed, "I needed a _favour._ Not a lying, mother murdering, dickhead of a friend. I don't want to spend a second more than I need to with you so let's cut the the chase. I need a floor of that big building where Bonnie works."

"An entire floor for yourself?" Klaus asked. "To work? It could get a bit lonely. What do you intend to do? If you're starting a business, I'm sure I could help you relieve the stress…"

"Not for myself, for the kids," Caroline snapped and she could tell that she peeked his interest. "I remember you said Rebekah was lonely because she was different than other kids right? Well, if you chose us, I'm guessing our kids might as well be training here already. So my friends and I were thinking that we could make a space for our kids to be with kids like them here. It would save a lot of money and time. Kids could go to school, come back here and then go home with their parents. Less money spent on ridiculously expensive child care and nannies–"

"How has this idea come to be?" Klaus raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her stomach warily, "are you with a child?"

"Seriously?!" Caroline crossed her arms, "this is for Henrik and other couples with kids here. For other people who might want kids like Elena and Ric and I know Rebekah is totally mommy material. Elijah and Katherine are either not careful at all or maybe Elijah might have a small inkling of a want to be a dad. I want to make opportunities for people here to live differently, _normally_. Maybe if Camille moves here so you can quit harassing me already, you two might–"

"Highly unlikely. Though I am unaware of the desires within her, I doubt Camille has interest in the wonders of motherhood. Given my past with my own fathers, I don't think I'd purposely ruin a child's life by parenting it." Klaus raised an eyebrow, "would you like to have children? Not now of course, you're still quite young, but later in life."

Caroline clicked her tongue, knowing he was trying to keep her longer. "Yeah of course I would, but I thought my whole life out with Tyler in it. Now that there's this, how could I let a kidnapper be a dad?" Klaus opened his mouth to speak, but Caroline cut him short. "Don't even think about it. First of all there is no way in hell that I'd ever have sex with you of all people and on top of that, be so irresponsible to let you impregnate me."

A smile appeared on his lips, "I was actually going to say you'd make a great mother no matter the father's identity. We're both aware that you wouldn't touch me with a thirty nine and a half foot pole."

Slightly blushing, a scoff left her mouth, "the pity move isn't going to work on me, you killed Tyler's mom–"

"Yet you're still here," Klaus countered with a gaze that made Caroline hold her breath and clench her thighs together. He moved back towards her and held her face gently, brushing her tinted pink cheek with his calloused thumb. The only time his eyes left hers was for a split second when they landed on her lips, a slight smirk emerging. Everything inside her head screamed for Caroline to slap Klaus, but her body urged her to close the space between them. "It shows me you're not as strong as you make yourself out as sweetheart. You long for my presence just as I do you."

His thumb continued to make patterns on her cheek and Caroline squeezed eyes shut. "Klaus," Caroline said sternly as she backed away, unaware if she would give in to the darkest part of herself. "I came here and asked you something. You didn't answer so do you know anyone who actually has control over these things."

"Talk over lunch?" Klaus questioned, the devious smile on his lips still evident. He took her hand and pressed his lips to it. "Let me make it up with you. At this moment, all I can think of is you and your forgiveness. Only you."

"And all I can think of is you lying to me about this like you do with everything else." That was a lie, Caroline was also think about his soft lips on the back of her hand. "Now tell me who can help me with this?"

Klaus pulled away from her hand to answer, "my mother, perhaps Elijah. Of course it would be much easier for you to gain access to them through a family member."

"Someone I can trust right? So Rebekah or Kol?"

An exasperated noise came from Klaus, "Kol over me? Don't be stupid sweetheart. He's currently beating up your boyfriend."

"At least I know that's the truth because he told me on his way. Kol hasn't lied to me. Ever which is much more than you can say."

"That's not fair! You barely speak with Kol, what could he possibly lie about? I want to protect you, I'll do anything, even lie, to confirm your wellbeing. I'm not sorry for Tyler's mother or the lies that I told and I'm not asking you to look past that or forgive me. I only want for you to stop pushing me away. Allow me to make it up to you."

It was really sweet how Klaus wanted to make amends with her so bad (apart from the part where he killed Tyler's mom). It was as if she was the only one that mattered to him. Caroline nearly allowed herself to smile. "I–"

"Klaus?" An unfortunately familiar voice inquired. "Are you up here?" Camille appeared from behind the corner and grinned as she met his eyes and made her way over to him. Once Camille got to them, she stepped in front of Caroline and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hey, there you are. I got your message, you wanted me?"

"Not now Camille…"

She smirked a bit, "lighten up. Are we still on for lunch?"

There Camille went again, ignoring her entire existence. She was officially done with her. With both of them. They were going to ride off to New Orleans for who knows how long, Caroline didn't need to associate with the two of them for the remainder of their time in Virginia.

"Hi, Camille," she said with fake cheeriness. "Just to let you know, just because I'm a 'baby assassin', doesn't mean I'm invisible you bitch. Maybe I overreacted when we first met, but this little charade has gotten totally out of hand. Stop being so jealous because he's into me. Your problem is with Klaus, and we are two very different people. I don't care what happens between you two, just don't take it out on me!"

"Caroline…"

She almost sneered at Klaus as she ripped her hand away from it. "You didn't need to lie, Klaus! If you've got plans with someone else, don't come and ask me so it blows up in my face and makes me look stupid!" She exclaimed harshly. "If you wanted me to never forgive you for killing Tyler's mom, you should've just said so. No need to be a fucking douche about it!"

"Love, please–"

"Stop! Just stop it okay?" Caroline groaned, tired of Klaus's bullshit. If he wanted to spend his free time with Clingy Cami, why lie saying he wanted to be with her. "I don't need you for this. You weren't much help anyway." Caroline knocked on the door that Klaus's meeting was in and shortly after Elijah opened the door.

"Caroline?" Elijah asked as he let her in and she shut it immediately.

"What on Earth happened out there?" Rebekah interrogated, "why do you look so bloody pissed?"

Caroline groaned angrily and crossed her arms. "Klaus and Camille are just…" Before she could finish, Esther's cold eyes pierced into hers and Caroline took it as a silent warning. The last thing she needed was a murderous mother on her back. Caroline laughed dryly to cover her anger. "…are too busy talking about New Orleans and stuff like that and he won't help me choose flower arrangements. I only want everything to be perfect for him."

"Are you in need of something from us?" Elijah questioned while he gestured for her to sit. "We will always be perfectly willing to assist you."

There was no point in waiting to ease into her request. With Esther's eyes burning through her soul, Caroline wanted to say it quick, then get out of there. "Um, I need a floor of that big building."

"That can be done," Elijah agreed simply. "I believe the seventh floor is currently being cleared out. Has the date been decided?"

Caroline cleared her throat awkwardly, "It's actually not for the party. It's for another, a different reason. I know it's not really my place to say or suggest or whatever but want to make place here for kids. A place where they can stay and learn if they have to be like us. Like your brother or if you and Katherine have a kid and stuff. I know this is like out of the blue and I promise I'm not pregnant or anything. I just wanna help."

"Katerina and I may bear a child and a safer place for her or him will be needed, but why would Kol or Niklaus have anything to do with it?"

"I'm talking about your littlest brother, Henrik," Caroline corrected him, trying not to make her glances towards Esther obvious.

Elijah paused hesitantly, exchanging short looks with Rebekah Esther before speaking again, "I'm assuming Niklaus told you about the situation revolving around Henrik."

Nodding, Caroline let her eyes drop to the floor, undeserving shame washing over her. "That's why I haven't gone to see Tyler recently. I have no idea what to say to him. And I'm sorry to you guys because I was oblivious when it happened and I couldn't stop it. To make it up to you, I got a group looking for Henrik just incase the interrogation doesn't work out that well. I'm rambling sorry. I'm here asking for a floor. Is it possible for you to think about it? See what you can do?"

"I personally think that's a great idea," Rebekah smiled encouragingly at Caroline before turning back to Elijah. "Don't you think brother? I'm sure there's a floor or two collecting dust up there, it's time we put them to use."

Esther cut in before Elijah could answer, "I'm afraid this is not up to Elijah. It is up to me. I believe a private discussion between me and Caroline is needed."

Caroline tensed. What if Esther decided to do the deed then and there? They were going to be completely alone, no one could help her. But Caroline had learned, she could hold her off and at least get out right? Unless Esther had a gun, then it was over.

"Spare yourself the boredom of arrangements and say yes already mother. All us young adults will inevitably become baby boomers in the next few years. The Mikaelsons will expand and a space with other children will be good for our offspring."

"Rebekah please. There is every possibility for secret downsides to this project," Esther pointed out before adding, "and all Mikaelson children will be raised as you and your brothers were."

"I wouldn't so sure of that mother," Elijah countered while leading his sister out of the door he opened. "People like Katerina wouldn't exactly leap at the chance to give you control of her child's life."

Rebekah agreed, "I myself would want a kid of mine perfectly sane, unlike how I was _bred_ mother. Don't let her intimidate you Caroline." With that, Elijah and Rebekah were off, leaving them alone.

"Have a seat Caroline, I wouldn't want your discomfort especially with the discussion I intend to have with you."

Caroline cautiously sat down and smoothed out her dress, "thanks."

"Niklaus has told you the entire story of Henrik's kidnapping," Esther started, folding her hands on his desk. "Who have you assembled to look for him?"

"It's Stefan and Damon Salvatore, Elena and Jeremy Gilbert, Bonnie Bennett, Alaric Saltzman, and Matt Donovan," Caroline listed. "They're all from Mystic Falls, you probably know that. I thought it would be easier to reach them because I know them."

"Are you consumed by guilt?" Esther asked. "The feeling eating away at your insides, getting closer to your heart with each bite. It seems it's already reached your head."

"I don't get it–"

"My son's kidnapping was the doing of Tyler, not you. You do not have to apologize on his behalf, you need not do anything on his behalf. Thus making your search party utterly unnecessary."

"I'm not doing this because of guilt about Tyler, I swear I'm not. I-I do feel guilty but getting Henrik back to you and the rest of the Mikaelsons is not just because of how _I_ feel."

"How you feel is in fact what is behind this operation, you are unable to deny that. What you are feeling _about_ is a different topic entirely. Ethics and morals could be what's fuelling your desire to find my child, but I believe it's a smoke screen. A camouflage for the real reason."

"Yeah?" Caroline challenged while crossing her arms, doubting there was anything else than her morals that would play a part in saving a kid. "What might that be?"

"Not what but who. Niklaus is the undoubtedly the reason you're so eager. You would like to bring him the joy he once had, not because of guiltiness but because you've grown to care deeply for my son and not strictly friendship wise."

As she thought of what to say, Caroline tried not to change her expression. _Esther's just playing with you, trying to see what you're about,_ Caroline told herself. _She doesn't know anything about you and Klaus so stop thinking so hard. You love Tyler. You were friends with Klaus, but now you're mad at him. You are saving Henrik because he deserves to be saved. There's no deeper meaning to it. _

"Never in a million years would I like Klaus like that," is what she came up with then the rest fell out mindlessly. "Like seriously? Did Klaus tell you that? If he did, he's trying to rile you up or something because I'm not on good terms with him to scare me back to him–"

"Niklaus told me no such thing," Esther confirmed sternly, "all words he speaks of you to his siblings are words of praise, defence or raging in envy. You are oblivious to how much of an open book you are. I am aware of your longing to fill the void that was left in him when his brother was stolen. The one that Camille filled and emptied."

Caroline felt her like her heart was being squeezed hearing Camille's name and more importantly, her filling a hole in Klaus's heart left by his goddamn _brother_. Meaning he loved her, a lot. And she loved him back and they were happy. Klaus was _happy_. Klaus must've felt human and at peace.

"How do you know Camille filled the hole in Klaus's heart?" Caroline questioned, trying to sound more curious than jealous. "They were in New Orleans, you were here."

"I have my sources. Niklaus thinks he was the one who informed me about their relationship when he came to warn me to let him be with you, but I've know for quite the while. I liked Camille even as a bartender, there is a sort of dark mystery to her character," Esther commented. "Though outstandingly ridiculous, I understand why he refused to say anything, he wanted to protect her from the dark. Camille loved him with such depth, she followed him in. All that was for nothing once you appeared in Niklaus's line of view so even though it has been long, I believe that is why Camille is turning her jealousy into anger towards you."

"So you heard us outside…" Caroline grimaced.

"The lies were unnecessary," Esther informed her, "we all heard your little spat. What makes you different from Camille is that even if you were certain about how you felt about my son, you would never follow him by choice. You're lucky we have made the choice for you. But this is not about your feelings, it's about his. If it was up to Niklaus, he would drop anything and everything for you. He's determined to make you his own, spending no time to think of the consequences."

A sigh left Caroline's lips, "he's going to distracted and weak and vulnerable. I know, I know. He's told me this before and–"

Esther stopped her, "what of putting you in danger? Has he told you of that?" Caroline shook her head, unaware of what Esther was suggesting. "People come for my son directly and indirectly. His undeniable love for you has created but another branch for people to harm him. People do not come for my children because we are yet to be defeated. You on the other hand are helpless and delicate at the hand of danger. Niklaus's enemies will come for _you_ to hurt him. And there is no doubt in my mind, he will hurt."

"I spend more time learning how to fight them off," Caroline answered sternly.

"That only broadcasts to Niklaus that every moment he spends loving you, is only endangering you." Esther countered. "He'll be anxious and come back to protect you or even worse, bring you to the battlefield."

"There are people here that can help me here. My friends can help me," Caroline suggested desperately.

"They have responsibilities, your friends will not be there on your beck and call. It can happen any second."

"Well what do you want me to do?!" Caroline accidentally snapped.

Caroline knew everything Esther was saying was true. She thought Klaus was bad for her, but she was bad for _him, _in this situation at least. The fate of TVD New Orleans was depending on Klaus, she couldn't distract him.

"What do you want me to do?" She asked again, softer and exasperated this time. "I don't want him to– I don't want anything to happen to him."

"Destroy my son's feelings for you. Tell him you rather die than be with the monster he is. Anything to get him angry, sad, as long as you're sure Niklaus will not love you."

Her heart sank at those words. _'She told me she'd rather die than stay here and become the monster I was.' _

"I can't– Klaus told me about him and Aurora and what she said to him and how she broke his heart. Even though it was so long ago, he'd be heartbroken. What if he never loves again because of this?"

"There is no need for you to want to humanize Niklaus," Esther told her. "I know I would want my son alive and heartbroken than dead and in love."

_He could die Caroline,_ she told herself. _You can't take that chance._

When Caroline didn't answer, Esther started again. "It is your choice, Caroline. Choose wisely." Esther told her she could leave and when Caroline reached the door, she called her again. Caroline turned to her and Esther made a face that closely resembled a smile. "Your idea isn't bad, you can have a floor, ask Elijah to assist you. Thank you for your time."

* * *

"What is it that you want Camille?!" Klaus questioned angrily while storming out of his house with Camille on his tail. It was unbelievable how close he was to having Caroline's forgiveness before it was ripped from his hands.

Klaus despised being in a knot with Caroline. She was the source of his laughter, amusement, enjoyment. Though Klaus tried not to reveal it, he was frustrated enough having to leave her in Virginia with Kol training her in addition. Klaus wouldn't want to be on bad terms with her if he went to New Orleans and for some strange reason, not come back.

When he came back, he wanted her embrace to be as the one she gave him after they captured Tyler. He needed to hear her say those words again. That she wouldn't let go because once Klaus was in Virginia again, he wouldn't either.

"Lunch," she answered, "I haven't eaten anything all day."

"Refrain from dancing around the question and I might refrain from sending you back to New Orleans now," Klaus retorted.

Rolling her eyes playfully, Camille smiled at him. Klaus didn't return the favour. "I'm not dancing around anything, I've been craving beignets since I got here–"

"As a usual user of sarcasm, I'm sure you'd be able to recognize it Cami."

"–and you, my friend, should stop playing around. I know you won't send me back to NOLA because first of all, you can't. And second, Esther would punish you by taking all your toys away." Klaus clenched his jaw and refrained from yelling at Camille at the top of his lungs. "I'm sure you know taking all toys means killing your fiery assassin friend. We– or more specifically, you wouldn't want that, would you?"

"When will you admit that your petty jealousy has gotten the best of you, hmm?"

Camille sighed and threw her arms in the air. "I'm not jealous. I want you to show me around Virginia Klaus. I've never been here before. Let's go somewhere with a bar, I could finally see what it's like to be on the other side of the table."

Klaus turned to face her, "no."

"No? Why not?"

"Why is it you throw me deeper in the hole with Caroline whenever you show up if not for your unneeded green eyed monster?"

"If you're always in trouble with her, you know that something's wrong with her."

"Or there's something wrong with me and the company I keep. Perhaps I should reconsider my choice of friends," Klaus growled.

Camille let out a quick sigh, "c'mon you know that's not true."

"There was no message for you to receive, we were never on for lunch Cami. What reason is behind wreaking havoc on the small joy I have left if it's not that you're not green with envy?"

"It's not you Klaus," Camille clarified while shaking her head. "I'm not doing this because I'm jealous of her. There's nothing for me to be jealous of."

"Apart from my attention then?"

"I'm not trying to make you unhappy either. You know I'd never want anything but you to be as happy as you were with me and your second family in New Orleans. You can be king again. We want you to be king again."

Klaus hesitated. Being king of New Orleans was indescribable. He was in control of everything there in TVD. There was no worry of Elijah scolding him for being too reckless or Esther constantly threatening him. Klaus had an army behind him who he could be sure were not plotting against him and wouldn't steal his family from behind his back.

At the same time, there was no Rebekah or Kol or Elijah. No Caroline. She was counting on him to come back to her. If Klaus stayed in New Orleans, Caroline would jump to the worse conclusions. He also didn't want to spend an extra second away from her.

"I couldn't betray Marcel," was the lie Klaus came up with.

"Bullshit. It's more than obvious Caroline is the problem here. She's holding you back. She's bad for you Klaus."

He scoffed and continued to walk towards the parking lot, "how so?"

"Your little _friend_ is a distraction," Camille pointed out from behind him, "especially now that you're coming to New Orleans and you know it!"

Klaus didn't reply and it stayed silent for a minute or two. _I want to spend my time with Caroline, what of it? I want to stay with my sister who's return was merely for my sake. Perhaps Cami should start thinking I'm not the problem, but the faith of New Orleans resting on my shoulders._

"You're not going to listen huh? Well picture this. While you've been in New Orleans for months doing nothing but working your ass off, Caroline gets horny. Can't sleep with Tyler, he's locked up. Can't sleep with you, you're long gone and probably not coming back. So she goes for her trainer, Kol AKA your _brother_."

"No," Klaus shot back, turning to face her once he got to his car. "She wouldn't."

Camille pressed on, "then what about Elijah? If he and Katherine go through a rough patch–"

"Stop."

"–or her friends. Like Matt Donavon with his beautiful blue eyes. They used to date, I can tell. He's not interested in anyone else, perfect choice, right?"

"Caroline wouldn't do that," Klaus stated, his voice cracking slightly. "She's not like that."

"How would you know? Why wouldn't she go and have sex with a random hot guy off the street?"

Klaus almost snarled before he realized the words that left his lips, "she's not like _me_."

"There's something we can agree with. Caroline is innocent, oblivious to what this all actually means. You're experienced. She'll do bad things to save _herself_. You act like you do bad things because you like to, but I've learned you do them because they need to get done. Caroline doesn't love you like you love her either. You need to forget about her Klaus."

A dry laugh fell from his lips, "if you claim to not heed jealous feelings of her Cami, you're most certainly threatened by my feelings for her. Why is that?"

"Threatened?" Camille asked in disbelief as he got into his car.

"Take a bus to Mystic Falls. There's a restaurant and a bar there. Everything you wanted, except me."

...

The Salvatores' boarding house was the very last place Klaus imagined he'd end up, yet here he was, seeking out the elder brother. Not wanting to admit his desperation, Klaus told himself he was going there to check on Katerina's sister, seeing that Elijah hadn't taken the time to tell her the good news.

The front door, as expected, wasn't locked, so Klaus waltzed right in and stood at the miniature staircase. He was alone for a mere minute before the twin sister appeared from around the corner. Elena did not seem to notice him until he cleared his throat making her flinch slightly.

"Klaus," she sighed, relaxing a bit. "What are you doing here? Stefan already left–"

A small smile decorated his lips as Klaus folded his hands behind his back. It was simply amusing how different Elena and Katherine were. "I am running some errands that don't involve the younger Salvatore at the moment. However, I do have some concerns to address with you."

"Oh," Elena sighed while sitting down. She shrugged and lightly slapped her hands on her thighs. "What's going on? Did something happen with Caroline?"

"I'm sure Elijah and Katerina have forgotten to tell you. You're not going to be an assassin. You'll now work under Meredith in the medical ward. Alaric is free to continue training you in your free time seeing you'll still need to protect yourself."

Her face lit up just as Katherine's did when she first met Elijah. "You're kidding Klaus! I don't have to hurt people anymore?"

"I believe medical students want anything but to be late on their first day of class. Hurry along now, Meredith becomes quite the impatient person."

Elena nodded and got to her feet. As she hurried past him, she caught Damon by the arm and gave him a kiss. "I got to go, but I finally get to be a medical student! Klaus told me I'm going to train with Meredith now." Before Damon could answer, Elena cut him off with a kiss. "I love you, bye."

Damon glanced at Elena racing out of the door and turned back to Klaus. "Mind telling me what the hell just happened?!"

"I just granted your girlfriend her every wish. She's to do medical training, Elena no longer has to prepare to become you."

His eyes narrowed for a split second before he scoffed, "and how the fuck did you get into my house?!"

"You've invited me in once," Klaus informed him, "therefore, I now have the ability to come and go as I please."

"Well I'm inviting you to leave because this is useless and you're creepy," Damon shot back as Klaus walked towards the bourbon and glasses. He sighed and laid down on the couch. "One for me too."

"Of course mate. Anything for my favourite fun brother," Klaus replied sarcastically as he brought Damon his glass. "Now my reasons for coming here were not just to gift your girlfriend with the granting of her wishes. I also needed to speak to you."

Damon sat up and snatched the glass away from Klaus, "stop saying that Mr. Wolf. Elena was perfectly fine with becoming an assassin."

Klaus smirked, "are you worried now that she needs not to become like you, she'll realize how immoral your actions are? Elena and Katerina are quite the opposites yet there are so many similarities."

"Like?"

"Katherine knew her love for you would never come close to out ruling her love for Stefan. Elena knows that she would rather do what she loves than make excuses to become like you. Both know that their love for you is indeed not their first priority."

"She is doing what she loves and that's doing _me, _dick." Damon laid down again and put his glass on the floor. "You wouldn't understand. Elena's love for me over Stefan is what brought us together."

Klaus smiled and put his glass back on the table before pacing around slowly. "Ah, yes. The love of Elena. How is it she manages to overlook every single horrific thing you've ever done? Is it willful ignorance or perhaps something more pathological?"

"Some people are just more capable of forgiveness than others," Damon answered honestly. "Bet you score about a negative five hundred in that round."

"Come on," Klaus urged, "there must be a secret. It can't be just you two. What is it? Bribery? Manipulation?" When Damon didn't answer, Klaus stopped and sighed. "What is it you say to her?"

Damon turned his head to face Klaus curiously. He sat up and put on a small smirk as he realized what the entire conversation was about. "I think this is about a certain blonde newbie assassin. I think you murdered Carol Lockwood and I think you're worried Caroline will never forgive you."

"You've done worse," Klaus countered quieter than his other statements.

"Debatable," Damon shot back. "See, I don't mind being the bad guy because it's my job. Somebody has to fill the roll and get things done. You do bad things for no reason. You do them to be a dick."

"Debatable."

Damon shrugged, "if you're gonna do bad things, do them for a reason. That's my advice. Now if you'd please get out of my house and go talk to her yourself?!"

Klaus smirked, "goodbye Damon. It's never a pleasure."


	18. Chapter 18

I am so sorry I think I posted the wrong chapter by accident. This is the right one. My bad! Enjoy reading and leave a review about what you think and what you might want to happen next!

* * *

"Care," Caroline heard Bonnie call as she walked into her and Katherine's dorm uninvited. "I need your help."

"Go away!" Caroline yelled back before adding, "I'm busy!"

At the moment, that was a lie but it wasn't for the past few days. Caroline had been running around on errands for Klaus's goodbye party. It was ludicrous that she had to do everything herself because she didn't have oblivious, easy-to-manipulate freshmen girls that wanted to be like her hanging around. On top of that, there was the Henrik case. The Mikaelsons' had been trying their best to get information from Tyler, but he hadn't budged. Rebekah suggested Caroline go and talk to him today.

Everything was just so stressful. It was the twenty sixth of October. Caroline should be planning her Halloween costume and make sure Tyler was matching. She and her friends would've gone to a stupid party and drink cheap alcohol and have fun. Instead she was planning a goodbye party for a murderer that she's fighting with and her boyfriend was in jail.

Bonnie opened her door and she found Elena trailing behind her. She looked Caroline up and down before giving her a criticizing glare. "Busy huh?"

"Stop judging, I'm overwhelmed with everything and everyone," Caroline pulled the covers over her head. "I can't take it anymore."

"Aw Care," Elena said softly as she crawled on her bed. "I know it must be super hard for you, but I think you need to bounce back and repair relationships with the people that you love."

"Tyler's in prison for kidnapping!" Caroline groaned. "I think I'll be okay without bringing never ending torment on myself for repairing my relationship with him as of now."

Elena pulled the covers away from her, "no I mean Klaus. He's leaving in what? A week or so? You can't keep on avoiding him when you're looking for his brother and planning a goodbye party for him."

"I can try!" Caroline shot back at her.

"Killing Mrs. Lockwood was a terrible thing to do, but we all do terrible things. Some significantly worse than others. That doesn't make him a bad person."

Caroline scoffed, "since when do you know what kind of person Klaus Mikaelson is? All he does is lie. You can't ever really trust what he says meaning you can't know who he really is."

"We didn't know who any of our friends truly were because of this whole organization, but we don't hate them. So I think you should give Klaus a chance."

"Give him a chance?! He had multiple chances before when I- Wait why are you even defending him? Did he give you a solid gold bar or something? Cause this is total bullshit! You should be on my side!"

Elena sighed, "Care you know there are no sides. I just heard from Damon that they chatted for a bit. About you. It was right after he let me know about my training as a medic, I figured he was being sincere."

"Wait you're seriously telling me this is all because he told you about a job switch?!"

Bonnie rolled her eyes and joined them on Caroline's bed. "Shut up for a second so I can tell you what I came say? While we're on the topic of our obviously favourite Mikaelson, I just learned, we may have a lead on Henrik."

Caroline sat up immediately, "you're kidding!"

"Not in the slightest," Bonnie confirmed with a small smile.

"Oh my God Bonnie, I could kiss you right now!"

Elena checked her watch and cursed under her breath, "I'm sorry guys, I got to go. I'm running late. I'll check in with you guys later, okay?"

"Yeah don't worry about it," Bonnie reassured her, "we'll see you."

"If you run into Klaus make sure to tell him that if he wants my trust back, he should come talk to me himself! Not bribe my friends!" Caroline shouted as Elena ran out of the room. "Where is she going? To her medic thing? Actually, I don't really care. What did you find?"

"Well Ric and I were doing a little digging," Bonnie started, "and we found out that someone bailed out Nate and Jules from jail."

"The ones we fought?" Bonnie nodded in response. "How did they get in jail?"

"Their criminal records say that they were arrested for being under the influence and aggravated assault. We figured that Hayley must've injected them with a drug or something while they were still out. After, she probably called the police when she was sure we were long gone and told them Jules and Nate were on something and a fight went on. The police knew that they didn't kill Daniel, their fingerprints weren't on the knife. But they did believe the two had some part in it."

Hayley actually did that for them? She is an ally, but she was also Tyler's family friend and fake girlfriend. Caroline was also being super snarky to Hayley even though it wasn't her fault that Tyler decided to move on and totally leave her out of the picture.

Caroline nodded slowly, "how much was bail set at and did you find out who bailed them out?"

Bonnie shrugged, "it was set around thirty thousand for each. I didn't look into it much. You'll have to ask Ric about that. What I did look into was who bailed them out. After tapping the surveillance and clearing up the security footage, I could make out a few features. It was a man. He looked maybe early fifties, late forties. Brown hair, blue eyes I think."

"And?" Caroline urged impatiently.

Her friend gave her an annoyed glare. "Calm down Care, I'm getting there. He came with a kid that was eleven to thirteen. He had shoulder length brown hair that barely showed under his black hoodie."

"Could it be?"

"Well if someone came to bail those two out, they had to be from TOS. No one else but The Other Side has the money to spend sixty thousand dollars on two agents. If Tyler did bring Henrik to TOS, then it would only be logical they still have him. Henrik would be a perfect hostage."

"Then that man has to be his personal guard or something?" Caroline naturally assumed, "responsible for him and his whereabouts maybe?"

"Who else brings a child with them to bail out prisoners?"

For a second, Caroline hesitated on what to do. "This happened in Philadelphia?"

Bonnie nodded.

"Did you get a good look at the car?"

"Blue Mini Cooper," Bonnie answered immediately. "Ric's currently trying to clear the license plate. Strong possibility it was stolen or rented."

Caroline jumped to her feet, "oh my God! We totally found Henrik Bonnie! I got to go tell the Mikaelsons. Bonnie go assemble a team or whatever and tell Ric to hurry up! I'll tell Elijah to get a jet ready to go to Pennsylvania. I'll have to reschedule my meeting with Tyler for later and tell Elena we're leaving right away–"

"Woah Care, slow your roll. Your ambition is inspiring, but that might not be Henrik. Newsflash, we don't what Henrik looks like. That boy could be wearing a disguise–"

"I can call Rebekah right now if you wan–"

Bonnie sighed, "not the point. We have to take time to discuss this with Esther and make a plan where we can ensure that boy's safety."

"Well newsflash Bonnie, if we wait, we're gonna lose them!"

"Even if the two of us ran after him right this second and somehow found him, do you have a clue of what we would do if we got to them?"

Caroline opened her mouth to object, but after a second sat back down when nothing came to mind.

"I know this is big for you with your relationship with Klaus, but this is big for everyone else too."

Why did everything have to about her and Klaus? He wasn't the only one in the Mikaelson family she was friends with. Caroline thought she had made it clear she was doing this out of the goodness of her heart. Not because of Klaus for God sake!

"That car could potentially lead us to The Other Side's headquarters. If we found them first, then Klaus doesn't have to go to TVD NOLA."

Unintentionally, Caroline's breath hitched. _Klaus would be safe. He wouldn't have to leave and possibly get hurt or worse. For once I might finally feel a little peace._

"We could ambush The Other Side instead. You see, everything has to be planned out perfectly so that there will be no bumps."

"Got it."

Bonnie smiled, "plus, I have another job for you today. We're assigned to a mission."

Caroline's heart sank at the thought of their last mission. How great it felt to hurt Daniel. How much she believed he deserved every single hit he was getting. The immense power and adrenaline that coursed through her veins as she knocked him on the floor. The lack of emotion when she saw his dead body.

Was that how Tyler felt when he hurt her? Were they the same? Caroline shuddered at the thought, "really?"

"Yeah, but nothing dangerous. We just got to go to the Armoury to restock some items we're missing. It won't take too long either." Bonnie's phone buzzed and she took a look at it. "Ric needs me for something. Be ready at six okay?"

Caroline groaned and got under the covers again. She guessed Bonnie rolled her eyes and left because she heard the door shut.

It was only around noon. There was still time to plan some stuff, talk to Tyler and to Klaus. Esther told her to break his heart and Caroline didn't know if she could go through with it. Even though it was for Klaus's safety, there was a part of her holding her back. The same part of her the skipped a beat when their eyes met and that forbiddingly ached for his presence. The fact that Aurora did the exact same thing to him too made it even harder on her.

The bright side was, Klaus would be safe. He would be angry, but safe. Anger could possibly make him fight harder. When Klaus came back, she would tell him that it was an act to keep him safe. Actually, that could make him even more angry considering he would have to endure the pain for a while. If Klaus found out in the end it was all for nothing, who knows what he could do.

A knock on the door broke her line of thought. It was probably Bonnie reminding her to get ready again. "Bonnie, you've been gone for what? Two minutes?! Just go and talk to Ric about Henrik and the whole license plate situation. _He's_ our number one priority, not the stupid armoury!"

The door suddenly swung open and it was most definitely not Bonnie in the doorway. "You've found him?"

* * *

Klaus watched Caroline's expressions flash across her face as if it was a montage of scenes. "Klaus… why are you here?"

He refused to hold eye contact with her, trying to avoid the underlying issue that had clearly broken their relationship. Though Klaus would give anything to have her in his arms again, Henrik had taken priority over the repair of their friendship. The important thing was that Caroline had found a lead on his brother. "Where's Henrik?"

"That's something to ask Bonnie and Ric." Caroline narrowed her eyes at him before harshly adding, "not me."

"Caroline…"

"Don't _Caroline_ me after all _you've_ done! I'm not the person to ask! So leave and go see Bonnie or Ric. Don't let the door hit you on the way out. Actually, do."

Klaus didn't see why she chose to be so difficult. This was about his _brother_ that her _boyfriend_ put in danger. Not about the murder of Carol Lockwood or troubles with Camille O'Connell. "This isn't the time for your silly games, love. My brother's safety is at stake–"

Caroline glared at him, "so is my sanity!"

"If anything happens to Henrik because of you–"

"What?! You'll kill me?" Caroline questioned. "That's how things work for you, right? Someone challenges you, disagrees with you, doesn't give you what you want and you murder them."

"If you're referring to the case of your abusive boyfriend, you might want to think again. I spared Tyler Lockwood's life for you and solely you, Caroline!"

"But you took away everything he had! You killed his mom–"

Klaus snarled, growing angry and frustrated with her. Every second they wasted bickering was another opportunity to lose the lead on Henrik. "He had my brother. I call it an eye for an eye."

Caroline shot up, "Henrik is alive and you know it! You can't say the same thing about his mother can you?"

"He had you!"

"You took me!"

Caroline's words silenced him immediately. Klaus struggled to keep his head from falling to avoid her gaze full of emotion.

"You took me from him," Caroline confessed helplessly before laying back down. "You changed my entire opinion on him. If you left me to die in that car to burn to death, at least I would still–"

Klaus slowly moved to sit on her bed and she weakly glared at him. "Tyler is lucky he still has his life no thanks to you." Caroline's voice softened. "He got in your way and his mother paid the ultimate price. I'm in your way of getting to Henrik. Are you going to kill me?"

"Do you really think that low of me?"

There was a slight hesitation prior to her clear answer. "Yes."

Klaus paused to appreciate the pure beauty Caroline. The unmistakable humanity dwelling within her right at that moment. How she made his own break through the surface. Caroline's willingness to be vulnerable with him. He trailed the back of his hand against her cheek and her eyes shut as she shuddered at his touch.

Unfortunately, the idea of all that he's doing to Tyler, may affect Caroline came into perspective. It had always lingered in the depths of Klaus's mind, but now he saw it up close and personal.

Klaus stood up and paced carefully through her room until he was leaning on the door frame with his arms crossed. His voice went flat and emotionless, "then you're just like everyone else."

"So what?" Caroline retorted softer than he had thought she would. "If I'm just like everyone else you know, if I'm just another person who's life you've ruined, just wish for me to go away."

That was the last thing he wanted for Caroline to do, but it would be easier. She wouldn't have to await his return or wait for him to release Tyler from the cell he'd rot in. Klaus's heart would once again be cold and hard. He'd sleep with hundreds of women that would never compare to her in attempt to swallow the pain with pleasure. Pleasure that Klaus only yearned for from Caroline's body. There would be jealousy no longer, seeing that his brothers wouldn't be able out their pesky hands on her if she was gone.

He swallowed slowly so his voice didn't crack in frustration. "Go."

There was complete silence for a minute before Caroline spoke up. "Fine then. I'll put you on Henrik's track and be on my way with Tyler. All beaten and bruised."

"No matter how bad you try to make me feel, I feel no remorse for Tyler," Klaus confessed truthfully. "I'd slaughter him before you two could run off. Happiness shall evade him for the rest of his pathetic life."

"I can't leave without him. I can't stay here if you want me gone. The longer I stay here with you wishing for me to leave, the more Esther will hate me for being around. Then Esther will make sure to kill me while you're in New Orleans. I'll _die_."

"You'll die and then Tyler would have learned his lesson the hard way. Know that his actions have a chain reaction of consequences."

"How can you keep doing this to him?" Caroline questioned in a cold, quiet voice as if she was forcing the words out. "How could you do it to his mom? To me?"

"After chasing him for a thousand years? Call it boredom," Klaus simply answered.

"I don't believe you," Caroline whispered ever so softly.

Klaus's eyes never left the spot in front of him, "fine. Then maybe it's because I'm pure evil and I can't help myself."

"No. It's because you're hurt." Klaus turned his head to face her. "That means there's a part of you that's human. Not just the cold ruthless assassin you convince everyone you are."

He walked back towards her bed and sat on it. His eyes searched hers for sarcasm and dishonesty. Klaus found none of the such. Caroline simply held his gaze. "How could you possibly think that?"

"Because I've seen it. Because I've caught myself wishing I could forget all the horrible things that you've done," Caroline stated with an unreadable expression in her eyes.

Klaus wanted her to forget. He wanted to feel her love again and make her smile. He longed to erase every sinful deed he committed from her mind, but he couldn't. Caroline would never forgive him. He would never forgive himself. Klaus would deal with the aching pain of losing her for his entire life. So Klaus forced himself to contain the emotionless look on his face. "But you can't, can you."

It was silent for a few seconds before Caroline spoke up again. "I know that you're in love with me. And anyone capable of love is capable of being forgiven."

A shaky breath escaped him as he felt tears welling up in his eyes. Klaus turned away to blink them back. "You're hallucinating."

"I guess I'll never know. I'll be gone by your party so you don't have to think twice about me. Then I won't have to do what Esther told me to. I won't have to feel the guilt and pain that would come with me looking out for you."

"What is it that my mother told you to do?" Klaus quickly replied feeling concern flood his body. "Did she hurt you?"

Tears threatened to spill from Caroline eyes and as she took a deep breath, her voice nearly came out in soft sobs. "It doesn't matter now considering you'd have my head just to teach stupid Tyler a fucking lesson. You don't need to pretend to care–"

Seeing her cry was too hard to bare so before she was finished, Klaus was out of the door.

...

Klaus bust in through the doors of a certain witch's office making Alaric jump and Bonnie roll her eyes. "Be careful will you?" Bonnie groaned. "The doors are glass and repairs come out of my pocket Klaus."

"I suggest you should take your own advice and be more careful yourself before you let my brother slip through your fingers. Tell me where he is."

"Great," Alaric sighed before clicking his tongue in annoyance. "It's Klaus fucking Mikaelson. Just the perfect mascot to brighten up my day."

"Enough with the witty remarks Alaric, where is Henrik?"

Alaric spun around to face Klaus before checking his watch. "Whenever you speak, I feel inclined to physically hurt you."

"Well why don't you come at it, mate?" Klaus asked spreading his arms, welcoming the threat. "Take your shot." Klaus was most definitely not in the mood for such disobedience from the pitiful Alaric Saltzman of all people. Not after he just drove away the most important person to him and having her think it was because he did not care. For it was quite the opposite. Klaus cared too much. The only way he thought he could fill the hole in his heart was to discover hope in finding his brother.

All the agent threw at him was a nasty glare as he rose to his feet and made his way to the door. "That wraps up my shift and I rather be anywhere else in the world than here. I need a drink to clear my head."

"See you Ric," Bonnie called while her eyes were still glued to her computer. "Klaus please tell me you've called the rest of the Mikaelsons so I'm not stuck here with you for too long."

Klaus approached her with a small hint of a smile. "As if you'd prefer Kol's senseless abuse over my presence. I recall you once told me I was good company."

"I wouldn't prefer Kol and I never thought I would say this but, I'd prefer Rebekah."

"Seems like you've finally warmed up to my sister. May I ask however did you manage to do it with our beloved Elena breathing down your neck?"

"Caroline forced it on me," Bonnie admitted and the mention of her name made Klaus' heart sink. "I heard I different opinion on her and I thought I should get to know her before I judge her too harshly. I mean she's not the only one who's ran people off bridges."

Klaus tried to answer but instead let out a shallow breath and looked down.

"That is the trait she is built off of. Caroline always showcases the best of people to others and always searches for the best in people." Bonnie turned towards Klaus, "she did it with you. Then you blew it–"

"I understand that killing Carol Lockwood–"

"C'mon Klaus. You and I both know that this has little to nothing to do with Tyler's mom being dead. If it did then Elena and I wouldn't dare to even look at you."

Klaus scoffed and leaned on a wall beside him, "if you believe that to be so, do tell. What else other than my actions and my past has caused me to lose her?"

"Caroline's mixed emotions and her jealous tendencies. Your dishonesty and the lack of trust between you two."

"The lack of trust is most definitely not on my part," Klaus disagreed. "I trust Caroline with the entirety my heart."

Bonnie rolled her eyes, "enough to tell her all the secrets you've kept from her?"

As quick as Klaus opened his mouth to defend himself, he shut it knowing that no matter how hard he tried, Bonnie wouldn't dare to view things the way he did. "That was for her own safety."

"But it caused Caroline to think she has no reason to trust you. Then she finds out that you killed someone that she knew personally. It didn't have to be Tyler's mom, just someone close enough to make the reality of our job hit her square in the face. While all of this is happening, Camille is just making the insecure control freak part of her from way back in high school resurface."

Insecure control freak? Control freak Klaus got and she did have some insecurity issues in the rainforest, but he only guessed it was because of fear and stress.

"Caroline has repeatedly made it clear she was not jealous of Camille and I though I see through the lie every single time she tries to throw that excuse in my face," Klaus stated simply. "The excuse that she didn't like how Camille treats her and certainly I do not approve of my New Orleans bartender's behaviour either, but it doesn't make me go crazy the way she does. The only problem is that there's no reason for Caroline to be jealous if she repeatedly rejects my advances and talks about Tyler Lockwood."

"Well you gave her so much attention that when Camille came, it scared her because she thought that history was repeating itself. When Stefan chose Elena over her and Matt chose Elena over her. Then on top of that, she finds out that Tyler was with Hayley while they were technically still together. With you leaving and Tyler in jail, Caroline's heart is just all over the place and you need to be careful not to drive her away even further. She's my best friend, I don't like to see her hurt.

The words of the wise witch Bonnie Bennett had made him see clearly as expected. "It's too late for you to be worried about Caroline being driven away. I landed the final blow before I even came over here."

"What did you do now?"

"I told her to pack her things and leave. I told her that I didn't care if my mother murdered her as long as Tyler learned his lesson. Even as I said those horrid things, none of which I really meant, Caroline still saw through me. She told me she could see the human part of me. The good part of me that no one else seems to."

The door once again burst open only this time it was his sister doing the damage. Elijah and Kol followed behind her. "Hello, brother," Rebekah briefly greeted before turning to Bonnie and sighing. "Tell me sweetheart, what has he done this time."

"Yes, I do think that we should assess the issue then create a plan of attack," Elijah stated before greeting the two with nods. "Niklaus. Miss Bennett."

"Hey. This time what Klaus has nothing to do with the mission Kol will you stop touching me please." Bonnie growled.

Kol grinned and backed off. "Okay, Bonnie Bennett. You may not like me but my old friend in New Orleans. She's a witch as well."

"I'm well aware of your relationship with Davina Claire. She contacted us looking for you. Why don't you go bother her instead?"

Before Kol could respond, Rebekah cleared her throat. "Kol, if you could quit arguing so Bonnie can inform at least Elijah and I why Nik called us here. You said it was an emergency brother."

"It is," Klaus announced. "Bonnie and her team found Henrik."

"We _possibly_ found Henrik, Klaus. _Possibly,_" Bonnie corrected. "That's why I wanted you all here. We have security footage of a man and a boy we believe are from The Other Side bailing your hybrid friends out of jail. So before any of you jump to conclusions like Caroline did, maybe you should confirm if it's him or not. Just so you don't go on a witch hunt and abuse some poor child and his father."

Of course Caroline got her hopes up for Henrik and he had threatened her for his location when she was most likely doing what Bonnie instructed her to do.

Elijah and Rebekah both came closer to the computer screen. "Would you be kind enough to share the footage, Miss Bennett?"

"Alright whatever you say, boss," Bonnie agreed sarcastically. She pulled up a security footage of a jail and almost immediately a boy and a man walked in. When Bonnie zoomed into the boys face, he recognized those eyes almost immediately. At that same moment, Rebekah's breath hitched, a grin on spread on Kol's face and even Elijah couldn't hide joy. He was practically beaming in amazement.

A short sigh of relief and joy left his lips and at that moment his entire life felt like it was turning around. "Henrik, that's Henrik. You've done it again Bonnie Bennett."

"Thank me later," Bonnie smiled.

Kol threw his hands up and his head back, "that's our brother right there! The brother that Tyler thought he could steal from us. From the Mikaelsons! He took joy in taking away the most important person from our family. I cannot wait to see the look on his face when I break the news to him."

"We now should inform our belovedly wretched mother the good news about the findings of her son," Elijah stated as he straightened out his suit cuffs. "Then we can arrange a mission as soon as humanly possibly."

"Oh come on brother," Klaus smirked. "You know us Mikaelson's go faster."

Bonnie sighed, "if that's true, get out—"

"Who the bloody hell is that?" Rebekah muttered under her breath, but loud enough for her brothers and Bonnie to hear.

"Oh yeah, I meant to tell you to take a look at the man with Henrik. Anyone you notice? Maybe you've come across him on a mission before?" Bonnie zoomed into the face of man and cleared it up a bit.

Klaus's heart sunk.

The cold blue eyes pierced through the screen and right into Klaus's soul as the man looked at the camera. Almost immediately he broke out into a cold sweat and stumbled back into Rebekah. "I'm hallucinating," he whispered to himself.

Rebekah gripped onto Klaus's arm and held onto him, "no. It can't be. Nik you told us, you told me–"

"He was dead," Elijah finished in disbelief.

In a second, their hopeful amazement shrivelled into unbelievable terror.

Kol swallowed slowly. "Looks like daddy dearest is back from the dead."

* * *

"Yeah Bonnie, I'm on my way down. I'll be right outside. Okay. See ya." Caroline's black heels clicked on the hard white floors of the hallway as she rushed to get outside of the building. It was currently six thirty-seven and Bonnie was getting impatient with her because she was an half an hour late.

It wasn't all Caroline's fault though. She had to get herself to stop crying over Klaus _before_ getting ready. After barely making herself get through that task, Caroline showered and dressed up. She wore a black v-neck blouse tucked into her plaid pencil skirt with a light leather jacket. Bonnie would probably think it was extra, but Caroline was dressing up in case she ran into Klaus. The last thing she wanted was for him to think that she was going to spend the rest of her time in TVD sulking over him.

Finally after what seemed like forever, she got to the elevator and pushed the button. Patiently Caroline waited for the familiar ding and the opening of the gold doors, but as a minute passed, nothing happened. Two minutes passed, still nothing.

Caroline sighed exasperatedly before hurrying in the opposite direction to get to the stairwell. Almost simultaneously, her phone began to vibrate in her pocket. It was most likely Bonnie calling to see what was taking her so long. As she rushed towards the stairs, Caroline looked down to grab her vibrating phone and suddenly she crashed into someone.

Her eyes snapped up to meet a pair of blue eyes that were too familiar and the owner was the last person she wanted to see right now. Klaus's arm was around Caroline's waist, making sure she was steady. Immediately, he let go of her and backed up.

Klaus's looked like a mess. A _really_ _hot_ mess. His hair was perfectly ruffled and his henley clung to his chest more than ever. The look in his eyes was a mix of stress, terror and relief. The sight made Caroline's heart race against her will.

"Oh my God," Caroline whispered breathlessly before cautiously asking, "what happened to you?"

"I–" Klaus started with a weak voice. "Caroline may I speak with you?"

A part of Caroline wanted to scream at Klaus and completely tell him off, but with those vulnerable and broken eyes, she couldn't bring herself to. "Bonnie is waiting for me to go on a mission."

"A mission? Where to? Will you be in danger? If you get hurt I–"

What Caroline wanted to answer with was 'oh so now you care about my safety when a few hours ago I was a means to an end.' Instead softly she replied with, "don't worry we're just restocking. I'll be back soon."

Klaus looked like he wanted to say something else, but he just nodded and let her pass by him quietly. Caroline got to the bottom of the stairs and looked up at him. "Thanks for catching me."

...

"So you're telling me that this place is where you get all your weapons?" Caroline asked unimpressed.

Bonnie had pulled into the driveway of a stone mansion that could be called a castle. Caroline didn't think it wasn't absolutely beautiful, because it was. The problem was, she was expecting like a top secret layer made out of steel and stuff like in the spy movies. This was anything but that.

"Give it a chance will you?" Bonnie sighed before turning of the ignition of the black van they were in. She took out the keys and they both opened their doors and headed out. "I really hope that nasty old man, Mr. St. John isn't in."

"Mr. St. John?" Caroline questioned as Bonnie knocked a weird pattern on the door that was most likely a secret code.

"Yeah, Dalton St. John. He runs the place like it's still the 50s and it's always a total pain in the ass. I wish he'd just hurry up and die already."

Three beeps sounded from the key pad by a doorbell before front door creaked open by itself. Bonnie walked in unfazed as Caroline sighed and followed her. Once she was in, the door slammed shut making her flinch and spin around to see no one there. _That's not creepy at all_.

Caroline took the place in. There were relics lined up and encased in glass on both sides of a hall that lead to a small lounging place. It definitely didn't look like a secret agent layer, just a museum. On her left was a spiral staircase that went up for several feet, leading into the balcony above her with black railings. The balcony had glass coffee tables with couches nearby. What stuck out to her was the alcohol on the table. Caroline could tell it was bourbon because of Damon had a set just like it. The glasses and everything.

"I'm gonna go check in another room, Care," Bonnie called. "See if I can find that douche. Just stay there, okay?"

"Yeah whatever," Caroline replied as she heard her best friend's footsteps recede.

Now that Caroline was alone, it got her thinking. She was supposed to go see Tyler after this, but Klaus needed to talk about something. Caroline doubted that it would be an apology judging by his character, so there was something that was really rattling him. Caroline had never seen Klaus that shaken up since they met. Could something have happened to Henrik? What if the car got in a crash and they had lost him again. Bonnie refused to say a word about her meeting with the Mikaelsons' because 'it wasn't her place to say anything.' Like Henrik was her business too. She got all of her friends to help out as much as they could.

"And who might you be, love?" A familiar voice asked from behind her. Caroline fight or flight kicked in as she whipped around and grabbed the person's neck. He was a guy dressed in all black with black hair and dark eyes. He was super attractive and surprisingly familiar, but she couldn't remember from where. All she was sure if was by the smirk on his face and the amusement in his eyes, he was going to be a handful.

"Let go gorgeous. You and I both know a fight in here won't end well for either side," the guy admitted in his charming British accent that reminded Caroline of Klaus.

Reluctantly, Caroline let go, knowing that he was right. She wasn't armed and he apparently had a whole inventory of weapons somewhere. "Who are you?"

"You don't remember me? I certainly remember you Caroline." So they had met before. Caroline crossed her arms and didn't budge making him sigh. "Mr. St. John."

Mr. St John, huh? This was the old douche that Bonnie hated so much. Caroline thought that he was gonna be a gross old man. After clearing her throat, Caroline started to tell him off in defence of her best friend. "Dalton you're a dick!"

Confusion washed over his face, "Dalton?"

Bonnie yelled while running back to Caroline. "Caroline who are you talking to–"

"Bonnie Bennett?" Dalton whispered in disbelief.

"Enzo?" Bonnie asked with just as much emotion.

Caroline looked at the two back and forth for at least a minute. "Um? Earth to Bonnie, hello?! This is Dalton St. John, the dickhead that you wanted dead! Ring a bell?"

"My name is _Lorenzo_ St. John, Enzo if you please. Dalton's my uncle if you haven't caught on yet Goldielocks." Enzo explained boredly. The only thing he seemed interested in was Bonnie.

_Enzo? Was it the name that rung a bell? The guy Bonnie met at Kat's restaurant with Rebekah?_ Caroline thought. _No, I didn't see him, I only heard his name. Think Caroline, where do you know this guy's face from?_ She narrowed his eyes at him and the name Goldielocks echoed back at her. Caroline gasped and pointed straight at this Enzo dude as it hit her. "You're Damon's friend from The Grill! The one who tried to hit on me!"

"You're certainly remembering a different story than I. That's the thing I've got against lightweights. You drink so much that no one can take you seriously. After your _little_... argument with Damon," Enzo turned to face Bonnie again and he subtly looked her up and down, "I left the premises and found the most beautiful woman I've laid eyes on. A woman who also so desperately desires my Uncle Dalton's demise."

Bonnie made her way to Caroline's side without her wondrous green eyes leaving the brown ones that belonged to the mysterious man in front of them. "You never mentioned you were a St. John. I would've turned the other way without giving you a second thought–"

"So you've thought about me? Flattered, truly." Before Bonnie could answer, Enzo started talking again. "Now that we're on the topic of unmentioned information in conversation, you still have yet to inform me the reason of your arrival."

Enzo and Bonnie were still eyeing each other as Caroline checked the time. If this situation was going to go on like this, there would be no time to go meet Tyler and Klaus. Maybe if this scene was playing out the next day, Caroline would be playing the match maker. That is if she got over his lying about The Grill party. Enzo seemed nice enough for Bonnie. Of course that's considering how over time, she had seen that perhaps Kol and Jeremy would be a better couple than one of them and Bonnie. In general, Caroline loved a good romance movie about finding soulmates, but now was not the time for popcorn and 3D glasses.

"We're from TVD and I'm on a schedule," Caroline snapped. "So if you could take us down to the secret layer with all the weapons, I would very much appreciate it."

"I never received a message about your arrival," Enzo replied in his accent as he reluctantly tore his eyes away from her friend.

"It probably went to your uncle."

"I doubt that he'd receive anything but flowers now that he's six feet under."

Caroline glanced at Bonnie who was grimacing. "Sorry for your loss even though from Bonnie's description it seems like it was more of a gain than a loss–"

"Care," Bonnie said after sighing, "next time try to be _more_ disrespectful."

Enzo looked unfazed, "I know how you feel, he was a total bastard."

"Let's change the subject," Caroline suggested. "Take us down so Bonnie and I can grab what we need for TVD, you and Bonnie can spend the night talking about your relationship while I drive home to my boyfriend in jail and my… Klaus."

"Gladly," Enzo agreed while leading them down the hallway of artifacts

Her friend slapped her arm while he was turned away. "I am not spending the night, Care. You can't leave me with Mr. Hot-Mysterious-Nephew."

"My hearing is just as good as yours love," Enzo commented while slowing down to match their pace. "Might wanna consider quieting down."

Caroline giggled as Bonnie glared at the two of them. Enzo glanced at Caroline after she calmed down and she met his stare. He cracked a grin, "what? Can't get enough of me either?"

When Caroline countered his comment with sarcastic reply and a grin that held just as much mischief, she knew that a friendship with Enzo might blossom into something beautiful.


	19. Chapter 19

Hey thank you so much for reading this chapter! Please leave a review on how do you think of the chapter! I'd really appreciate it!

* * *

"Enzo be good, okay? I don't want to have to come back here and catch you two doing things on the first date or else." Caroline warned him.

"Threatening me already, Goldilocks?" Enzo smirked, his dark eyes glistening with mischief as he wrapped his arm around Bonnie's waist. "Don't you have a big bad wolf to attend to?"

Caroline scoffed, completely unsurprised that her new friend and Bonnie's new plaything didn't even know the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears. "I think you mean the three bears. Big bad wolf is for Red Riding Hood, Mister St. John."

Bonnie and Enzo gave Caroline a look that screamed 'seriously' and she was about to go off before it clicked. She briefly mentioned Klaus to Enzo while Bonnie was on the phone with Esther about some Henrik stuff. By briefly mentioned, she meant telling him what could be considered her like story.

"What about you, blondie? Where's your lover boy right now?"

Caroline sighed as she lifted a box of 9mm bullets that was way heavier than she anticipated. "It's complicated," she barely made out and once Enzo noticed her struggle, he took it off her hands. "Thanks, but I could do it myself."

"You're welcome. In return I'd like to be filled in on your scandalous affairs."

A huff left her lips as she crossed her arms, "you know that's not fair."

"Unless you're up for a late night phone call I suggest you start talking."

She remembered the talk that Klaus needed to have with her and sighed. "I think I'll decline the first offer, he'll probably get jealous."

"Jealous, you better speak up or I'll be hearing this story from Little Miss Bennett Witch."

"Fine," Caroline reluctantly agreed. "Just don't tell Bonnie. I don't want her to tell Elena who will freak out and Elena freaking out will make Bonnie freak out. There will be lots of freaking and I don't want that to happen. Got it?"

Enzo smirked, "love, my lips are sealed. Wouldn't want my best friend's lady to get her panties in a twist. It'll be much harder for Damon to get them off that way."

Caroline rolled her eyes and sat down at the back of the van. "It all started on the night before my birthday. My boyfriend Tyler had surprised me with a trip to Brazil and we had spent the week having fun. Back to the night before my birthday, Tyler took me to a really fancy restaurant and told me to wait outside as he made sure they had our proper reservations. I was wearing a super nice dress, but the night air happened to be a bit cold, but there was nothing I could do about it. Then this stranger showed up and gave me his jacket…"

"Who?"

"Klaus Mikaelson," Caroline winced as she saw Enzo's expression change. Obviously he knew Klaus, she had no doubt about it. He was his Mom's stupid weapon dealer.

"Mikaelson? Klaus Mikaelson?" Enzo repeated in disbelief and she nodded. "You mean to tell me that you have the most bloody dangerous man in the world wrapped around your little finger?"

Wrapped around her little finger was the expression that most people might think was perfect for the situation, but Caroline didn't like it. The term made her feel like she was using Klaus or flaunting him around like a trophy. Klaus had once already assumed that was why she kept him around, which was totally wrong.

"He's not wrapped around my finger," she snapped. "It's not like that at all. Anyways I put it on and Tyler got mad because he was insanely jealous that I was wearing a jacket from a stranger, so he stormed out and dropped an engagement ring that was supposed to be for me."

Enzo raised an eyebrow, "are you going to start sobbing or continue the monologue? The Kleenex are all the way upstairs."

"I'm fine, thanks," Caroline answered harshly. She had cried enough tears to turn the Sahara desert into a swamp. It was okay of Enzo to offer though. Maybe it was even a little nice of Enzo to offer.

Remembering the conversation made Caroline sigh. For some reason it was way easier talking about Klaus to a stranger than it was to her friends. Probably because Enzo didn't judge her or tell her what to do or what not to do due to the fact he didn't know her. "You're talking about Klaus right?"

"You caught on, incredible."

Her blue eyes rolled, "I can tell when I'm not wanted and I'm obviously not wanted here. Thanks for sticking with me Bonnie."

"Care…" Bonnie groaned.

"No, no, go ahead. Have your fun, I'll be driving back to your two other boyfriends."

Bonnie's green eyes widened and her jaw dropped, "Care!"

Caroline was already halfway out of the door when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face Enzo and sighed, "what now?"

"You and Mikaelson work it out, got it? I don't want you to get hurt."

"I didn't know you cared," Caroline shot back.

Enzo sighed, "Klaus Mikaelson is a dangerous man."

"So I've been told."

"Just know to keep your feelings to yourself. The last thing I want is your broken heart or dismembered body parts to distract Miss Bennett from me. Caroline, if you do get hurt, you have my number, tell me about it later."

...

Caroline let out an exhausted sigh as she and Kol hauled the last box of supplies into TVD's weaponry room. "Thanks so much Kol, I really appreciate the help especially without Bonnie here."

Enzo and Bonnie must have been having the time of their lives at that moment. Caroline couldn't blame her, he was hot and had an accent. Reminded her a little bit of someone.

That left Caroline to drive home by herself which unfortunately gave her time to ponder on what was actually happening in her life. Once she got back to TVD, Caroline had intended to do the unpacking all herself considering she had missed training. Luckily, Kol met her in the parking lot. Of course he had come looking for Bonnie, but after Caroline informed him about the night's events, he stayed to help her out.

"Now that our little witch has ditched us," Kol pointed out, "it's only necessary that our two souls should connect with this brokenness."

A giggle escaped her lips as they locked up the door and headed down the stairs. "You're not going to fight for her Kol? After the agony and tragedy your relationship has conquered?"

"Of course I'm going to fight for her darling, at least as much as I can before she cuts out my tongue, but if this knockoff Mikaelson is what Bonnie really wants, then harmless flirting and good old Jeremy might have to do."

Caroline smiled proudly. She would have never thought that Kol would be so selfless. Maybe there was always more to a person than what was on the surface. Especially with the Mikaelsons. Esther wasn't just an unimpressed bitch who Caroline wasn't good enough for, but a mother who really did love her children. Elijah wasn't as emotionless and cold as he seemed when they first met. Ironically, Katherine—the baddest bitch of all—made him caring and compassionate. Yes, Rebekah was intensely terrifying to an extent and could definitely kill a man with one glare, but it could never compare to the love that basically radiated off of her. Just now, she discovered that Kol only thought about himself 90% of the time. In certain circumstances, he was a real sweetheart.

Then there was Klaus who she thought was a creepy stalker, then a murderous serial killer. Serial killer turned to thirsty acquaintance which turned to strange friend. Strange friend eventually became really good friend and really good friend became attention whore. Attention whore changed to trainer who changed to hangover buddy who changed to mission teammate. Teammate evolved into friend held at gunpoint a little too quickly and in that second he was the most important person in her world. He evolved into a good mother murderer and soon after a guy who lost his brother. That guy became someone who she needed a favour from to someone who broke her heart. Despite the ways Caroline had viewed Klaus, she still always wanted to smile at, scream at, ignore, confront, talk to, laugh with, hug, slap, and kiss Klaus. At times she gave into her emotions, sometimes she concealed them.

"Good old baby Jeremy sounds perfectly fine to me. I wish I could have a friendship as loyal as yours," Caroline admitted a bit softer. "You two are literally going for the same girl and still hang out without ulterior motives. Just get together to have fun and joke about it without hate lingering around."

Kol frowned, "isn't that you and Nik?" She rolled her eyes at him while he smirked. "Don't deny it, love. Of course apart from the constant fighting, and the fact that you don't hang out unless it involves assassination or being stranded in a forest. Despite your relationship's flaws, you are actually one of the most loyal people I've come in contact with over the years. Nik is as well. That sounds like a pair to me."

"Kol you know Klaus and I–" Caroline paused. "When we're together, it's not like you and Jeremy. We're not fighting over someone, he's fighting for me, but against me, if that makes sense. I liked it when we were friends, I could depend on him in the rainforest though we didn't know each that well. Now that feelings and Tyler are involved, everything's complicated."

Caroline had stopped again because she felt a rant coming up like word vomit and she didn't want to make Kol listen after he already helped so much. Then Kol put his hand on her shoulder and gave her a light squeeze. "Shall we finish our discussion, or do you intend to cover up your feelings with the usual jibber jabber?"

"Klaus is possibly in love with me and Tyler's literally a few floors down waiting for me to tell him that I'll break him out and run away with him. On top of that your brother's ex is here, trying to win him back and Esther supports her. Camille is ready for Klaus to start again with her in New Orleans while he's chasing after someone like me."

"I can guarantee anyone one would be chasing you with and ass like that." Caroline glared at him warningly with a look that could kill. Kol cleared his throat, "what I meant to say is what's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? I'm an insecure control freak who breaks down or blows up when he doesn't give me enough attention. Meanwhile, Camille has Esther's blessing and has made Klaus genuinely happy before. Esther said that she nearly filled the hole Henrik left. I can't even imagine doing that when all I do is overreact and end up hurting him. I'm totally corrupt."

Kol shrugged, "personally I believe you grant my brother more than enough happiness he needs. Especially considering he hasn't threatened to dagger me and throw me in a box for the next century since you arrived. You don't fancy Nik the way he fancies you. Tyler Lockwood is your boyfriend, the love of your life. Just because you love him and not Nik as of this moment, doesn't make you a bad person. Perhaps it makes you a bad person to Bekah, but she has better things to worry of."

"Actually, it does make me horrible if I'm leading Tyler on," Caroline whispered mostly to herself but she knew Kol heard her.

He gave her an intrigued look, "do our little Lockwoof has finally been shunned by the last person whose opinion matters. Tell me, how'd it happen?"

Carolin sighed, "I can't love Tyler when he stole from the family who helped me out of the mess he got me in. I can't think of building a family with someone who has hurt a child for an undisclosed reason."

"Well what's stopping you from being with Nik?"

A sigh left her mouth, "the secrets, the Esther-Camille situation, myself… I'm scared that Klaus will leave me once he has me just like Tyler did. Or maybe something important comes up and he disappears without a trace like what happened with Camille. If I feel like this now, while we're fighting and Klaus promised me he'd come back, what would happen if we were together and he left me and never returned. Klaus has lied to me and hid stuff from me and trust is a key component of a relationship. I just– I just don't know Kol. Please don't tell him."

"Don't worry sweet Caroline," Kol grinned as he opened the door for Caroline and kissed her hand. "Your secret's as safe as can be. Now, shall we take this conversation to my bedroom? I believe you'll quite like it up there."

Caroline gave him a small smile and let her head fall on his shoulder as he put his arm around her shoulder. "Not a chance buddy, not in a million years."

"And if we did have a million years by some sort of supernatural accident, what then?"

She had never thought about that. If she could live forever, what would she do. Things lately had been moving faster than Caroline ever thought they would. It felt like she had lived a lifetime in a month. The struggle, the hardship, the danger, the pain. The journey, the adventure, the learning, the experience. The friendships, the alliances, the trust, the love. Caroline had felt and gone through so many things in such a little time, what would she do with a million years.

"I'd spend it not caring about running out time, enjoying every moment as much as I can with my family," Caroline decided finally. "What about you Kol?"

Kol flashed a toothy smile at her, "taking on life's greatest thrills of course. Tightroping across the Grand Canyon, surfing with sharks on the waves of the seven seas. Zip lining through the Amazon, assassinating hundreds. Care to join me?"

"I might have to pass on the last two…" Caroline giggled as Kol opened the front door to the Mikaelson's home.

"I suppose you're here to talk to Nik?" She nodded. "Be quiet so my mother doesn't obliterate you, we still have a million years to spend together. My brother is most likely in his room, be gentle with him will you? He's in a rather fragile state at the moment. He needs a friend."

Caroline sighed, "okay. Goodnight Kol."

"Goodnight Caroline."

...

Three short knocks was all it took for Klaus to come open the door. It swung open, probably because of his anticipation, he said he would be waiting for her. Caroline couldn't even think about that right now, all that was on her mind was the man standing in front of her.

He looked just as worn out as before, just as uneasy and anxious as before. All she wanted to do was wrap her arms around him to comfort him, if it was a few weeks back, she would, but things were different now.

"Come in, Caroline." Klaus's invitation was delivered with a voice that sounded like it was about to waver. She nodded and walked into his room. It was huge with dark hardwood floorboards and an incredibly high ceiling. His bed was big with white sheets that were glowing in the moonlight that shone in from the window.

When Caroline sat on Klaus's bed, her eyes caught on a painting resting on an easel. It was a beautiful landscape set in the night with a starry red and blue sky with a bold full moon in the centre. Dark buildings covered the horizon and a river ran through them, reflecting the night sky. Caroline didn't recognize the scene, most likely because she's barely been anywhere other than Mystic Falls, but even by just looking at it, she could tell Klaus was very attached to the place. She could already take a wild guess at where it was.

"Is that New Orleans?" Caroline asked and surprisingly, her question seemed to catch him off guard.

"Yes, it is. My house in the French Quarter had a window that looked out to the buildings on the other side of the river. That's where Marcel and his lackeys resided when I threw them out."

Caroline set her gaze on Klaus as he stared out the window, "you miss your family over there, don't you." Klaus turned around and looked back at her before looking down. She sadly smiled, realizing that Klaus would be gone for a long time. He would miss Virginia as much as he misses the French Quarter. "I'm so lucky that Elijah brought my family from Mystic Falls here. Maybe when all of this chaos is over and you get back from your mission, I can go meet Marcel and his lackeys."

"No. I couldn't let you," Klaus said quietly. "It's too dangerous."

"You don't need to protect me Klaus," Caroline answered. "I'm already leaving TVD, so I wouldn't be on any missions–"

"I'm sorry, Caroline. I didn't want you to leave when I was arguing with you earlier today. I was scared that I would keep you waiting. Camille said some very justifiable things and I have no reason to stop you from doing those things. I'm not–"

Caroline moved over for Klaus as he sat down next to her. The last thing she wanted to hear was things that Camille said about her, but Kol said to be gentle and Caroline had to see where this was going. "What did she say?"

Klaus's were glued on his fidgeting hands, refusing to look up at Caroline. "You would fall for Kol or Elijah or Matt Donavon. I have no right to stop you, because of the way I treated you today. I do not want you to get hurt by my brothers or Matt Donavon who has hurt you before."

Caroline felt her heart flutter and scolded herself. Yes, Klaus was apologizing, but it really hurt to be called a tool, a means to an end, a sacrifice to hurt Tyler. But he paid enough attention to know that Matt broke her heart. Caroline could see something was eating away at Klaus and he seemed genuinely concerned about her heart.

"I'm not going to like Kol or Elijah or Matt that way. You know this," Caroline sighed. "I won't leave if you don't want me to. Trust me enough that when you come back, I won't have a new boyfriend."

I won't have a boyfriend at all. Caroline thought. The reason I didn't feel anything when I got Ty back was because I didn't love him anymore. There's no excitement, no passion, nothing's there anymore. There's no spark between us. He hurt the people I love for no good reason. Tyler hurt me for no reason. I can't keep on standing up for him when he has no desire to change.

"You can't stay Caroline," Klaus whispered with pain laced in his words. "He'll come for you. He'll take you too."

Caroline stared at him in confusion as Klaus slowly looked up and met her eyes. "Who? Who'll come for me?" Klaus didn't answer. "Klaus whatever's going on, you know can tell me. Especially because it concerns my safety."

"He took him, Caroline, he has him. He has Henrik."

"Bonnie just found Henrik, Klaus. We know where he is and we're going to get him back for you and your family. You don't have to worry about it."

When Caroline tried to rest her hand on his shoulder he flinched and kept his eyes on the floor. "In the surveillance footage, Henrik was accompanied by none other than Mikael," Klaus croaked.

"Mikael? Who's Mikael?"

"My mother's husband, my father."

This couldn't be happening. Mikael was dead. Klaus told her that he was dead. It was ultimately the worst scenario that could ever take place. Klaus' 'dad' who nearly beat him to death on the daily was holding Henrik captive.

Caroline was shocked, "I thought he was dead! You told me he was dead, Klaus!"

"He was. Believe me love, I should know."

"Well, how did he die? C-could he have escaped death without his family knowing? Did you bury him?"

When Klaus looked up at her, his eyes were wet with tears. "I thought I truly believed I killed him. I believed I killed him as he killed my father."

Caroline held his gaze and slowly squeezed his hand, encouraging him to continue the story. She couldn't judge him for killing his dad. It wasn't too unexpected. Mikeal was so terrible to Klaus. Caroline had no idea what she might've done if her dad hurt her physically as much he did emotionally.

"Mikael and I went out into the thick forest for another useless lesson on outdoor survival. I got every question asked correct, I was hitting all the targets spot on. We began sparring and I blocked all of his attacks. For once, just that once, I thought he might have been remotely proud of me. I thought he had accepted me as his son. That's all I wanted from life, to have a father that loved me. I wanted him to love me as his own. As he loved my siblings. Then I hit him. It was accidental, we had been sparing, but the next thing I knew, he was beating me once again. It was relentless and brutal and my siblings were too far to hear my cries for help."

Caroline could hear the vulnerability in Klaus' voice. The pain and trauma, it just broke her heart.

"Then it was a blur. I remembered finding my father in the depths of night, horrifically slaughtered and left for my mother to find. I felt a great anger towards Mikael, for thinking nothing of me. For hurting my mother and my siblings when they tried to protect me. I felt anger towards my father for leaving me alone with my abuser. I was angry with my mother for not trying to get our family away from him and I was furious with myself for being so weak. So I fought back and stabbed him with a stake. I was terrified with my actions so I ran and told my family he was dead."

"So he got away somehow…"

Klaus nodded, "and if there's even a slight chance he has Henrik to get back at me for trying to destroy him, he'll come for others." Klaus paused and looked down. "Caroline if he finds you here, love– Because of how I hurt you today, I am ashamed to even speak to you. How could I allow myself to lash out at the person I care about above all because I was scared for Henrik and I was selfishly scared to lose you?"

The heart pounding at Caroline's ribcage fluttered as those words left Klaus' mouth. Hearing that he cared about her made her want to forget everything he's ever done to hurt her and others and attack his mouth with hers. It was so wrong how Caroline was convinced Klaus was the worst person in the world a few hours ago and now he was suddenly sending tingles throughout her body.

"I am the only reason that you would love someone else. I cannot have nice things without destroying them."

Caroline had no clue what to say, she was utterly speechless for once in her life. If she opened her mouth it would be more likely to stick her tongue down Klaus' throat than to reply to him.

Unfortunately, she noticed Klaus took that silence for agreement and coldness which was not what Caroline intended it to be. "By now, you've most likely already decided to sever all ties with me, but if Mikael took you from me–" Klaus stopped, realizing that she was not his. Caroline wished he had continued. "What I'm attempting to say is, I can't endanger you because of the way I feel. I can't lose you too. Not when you seemed to fill the hole where my heart was."

Now's the perfect time. Kiss him! A part of her urged, but if she kissed Klaus right now she would be just as bad as Tyler. Even though Caroline knew she couldn't love him like she used to and had all intentions to end it with him, it wasn't right. Even if Caroline did kiss him, he'd be long gone by the end of the week.

"Klaus, I–" Caroline met his eyes and they left her without words once again. The pain and sadness from memories of torture and loneliness were on full display in front of her.

"It was wrong of me to lay this all on you," Klaus started. "I shouldn't have said a thing–"

Caroline shook her head. "Don't be. Don't ever be sorry for sharing things with me. You know I'm always eager to hear about you since you know everything about me. One thing I do know is that you want to, but you can't protect me from Mikael. We're going to bring back Henrik together and we'll get rid of Mikael together too. But you can't tell me to leave TVD if we don't entirely know the situation we're in. What I need you to do right now is focus on New Orleans. When you get there, catch up with Marcel, don't think of how safe I am. Eighty percent of your family who lives here has my back and a hundred percent has yours."

"I don't deserve you, love."

Caroline smiled sadly at Klaus, the creamy moonlight hitting her face perfectly. That was the moment she remembered in a few days, she was losing Klaus who once upon a jeep crash, was her everything. The anger Caroline felt wasn't because of Klaus' actions, it was because she knew that she was going to lose him. It would be easier if Caroline was mad at Klaus. Then maybe she wouldn't feel anything when he left with Camille. She was scared that he would move on and fall for Camille or other beautiful bartenders in New Orleans. The two seemed to be more alike than she had originally thought.

That was the moment Caroline realized maybe she wanted Klaus as bad as he wanted her. Usually that would cue the happily ever after, right? The couple would kiss and get together as they should, but the timing was just so wrong. Caroline felt a deep sadness in her heart because with characters like them, it was most likely the timing would never be right. So Caroline followed her instincts and laid a short and sweet kiss on Klaus' stubbled cheek and squeezed his hand once more. "I know, but you're my friend and sometimes you don't deserve them."

Klaus walked up to Caroline with his hands folded behind his back on a bright day in Virginia. His last day in Virginia for what supposedly would be a long period of time. After the night Klaus confided in her about his father and confessed his worry about Henrik, things had gone back to normal to a certain extent.

Though he and his family were still very worried about Henrik being in company with Mikael, Elijah made it very clear that Mikael had purposely made himself known as if he was aware they were watching. If he had managed to stay hidden for many years, it was oddly convenient that Mikael stepped out in public with Henrik right when Caroline proposed to create a search party for him. Bonnie said it was most likely Mikael was now working for The Other Side and if someone could get a solid confession out of Tyler, Klaus would know that Henrik was taken because Mikael wanted to punish him.

Luckily, Caroline had let go of her anger towards him, and things were as they used to be. She made hostilely sarcastic remarks and sassy jokes but all their conversations ended with a gleaming smile on her face. On top of that, Caroline got easily flustered when he would mention how she kissed him that night. Sure it was only on the cheek and merely friendly, but it didn't stop her from going completely red.

As Klaus got closer to her, she looked up from her clipboard and started snapping at some hired help walking towards her who looked utterly defeated. "Woah woah woah woah! Stop! Stop!"

They stopped in their tracks as ordered. Their facial expressions resembling fear and confusion as they lowered the bouquets of red, white, and yellow flowers in their arms.

"Those flowers go in the back as indicated by the floral chart you guys had plenty of time to memorize," Caroline told them in a matter of fact tone and the three girls spun on their heels, seemingly refraining from rolling their eyes. "Yeah, thank you." Just like that, her eyes were back on the clipboard.

Klaus couldn't help but smile, amused at her authority. "Now how did I know that I'd find you at the helm of the ship?"

Caroline simply glanced at him and looked back down, "go away. I'm busy."

"I was wondering what time I should pick you up tonight?"

She scoffed, "how about a quarter to never?"

Klaus moved towards her slowly, stopping only when he knew she could feel his breath on her neck from the hitch of her breath. "I was promised a date in return for your time spent with Tyler after his capture. I nearly ripped his throat out for you, I deserve to take you out for my trouble."

"Yeah a date, like to a movie, where don't have to talk and we can put at least three seats between us."

"Surely the reigning Miss Mystic Falls won't be hosting the party alone," Klaus pressed on, "and I assume you're not taking Tyler. Not after his indiscretions with his lady werewolf friend. It would be quite the embarrassment for the guest of honour to arrive without someone by his side anyway. Who better than the party's organizer? That way I could show you off."

Caroline looked at him while rocking on her heels, deciding what she should do. "Fine," she agreed, "if you insist on coming with me, meet me at your place at 8:00pm. It would be stupid for you to pick me up when we live in the same place. Black tie optional. And you are not showing me off because I'm not yours, you understand?!"

Klaus curtly nodded with an undeniable smile and his blonde goddess flipped her hair before walking off to finalize everything. "I'll see you tonight Caroline."

...

"Katerina," Klaus smiled as he walked up to his brother's shut door. He could hear she and Elijah getting ready for their daily dose of sex. "I would say it's a pleasant surprise but we are both very aware it is neither of those things. Shall I wait for you to be decent or must I pry you away from poor Elijah."

He heard an exasperated sigh leave Katherine's lips, "come on in. It's nothing you haven't seen Klaus."

This was true. Klaus did lust over Katherine for a day or two when she first came. They harmlessly flirted, but once Elijah arrived, Klaus knew their would be nothing between them any longer. He and Elijah wanted anything but another Tatia situation on their hands. If Esther continued to kill Elijah's women, he might've gone mad.

Klaus entered the room and unsurprisingly found Katherine in tight black pants and a lacy black bra running her hands through Elijah's dark hair. His brother's suit was thankfully still intact, though his tie had been loosened.

"What do you want Klaus?" Katherine hissed while leaning back on the bed, clearly upset that his interrupted her.

A smirk spread on his lips, making her scowl even more. "I came here to speak with my elder brother, before I leave for New Orleans. Don't correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that outweighs your reason for being here which is wanting to rip off Elijah's clothes and begging him to ravish you."

"Elijah is occupied right now. Don't you have like a gazillion other siblings to bother with your goodbyes? You do realize no human here is actually going to miss you?"

"It's funny you say that, being the devil's daughter, Katerina."

Katherine scoffed, "don't disrespect me, I'm his mother."

"I guess you're implying that because you're the least human in this facility, you'll be the one missing my presence the most."

She rolled her brown eyes at him, "yes, you know I'll miss you being a cock block all the damn time. I wonder what Caroline will miss you for."

Klaus grinned in response to Katherine's smirk, "perhaps for placing those dirty little thoughts in her head that make her thighs clench together when she is convinced I'm not looking. Maybe it's when I make her breath hitch as I place my hand on the small of her back and lean in so close she can feel my breath on her neck."

"Honey, I doubt any female with an inkling of self respect feels that for you."

"You are quite fit to speak on self respect. Is the term practice what you preach familiar with you Katerina?"

That made her let out a chuckle, "you are not a hair short from cocky for someone who's been in a relationship with his hand for a month. You can keep trying but Miss Left Palm won't be getting pregnant anytime soon."

"As for you on the other hand…"

"If it does happen, I'll be sure your niece or nephew don't inherit any qualities from you. I mean, imagine the devastation Esther felt when you popped out of her."

"Don't be silly, the Mikaelson good looks and the Niklaus charm will be a perfect fit for your child."

Katherine smiled, "well you'll have to come back in once piece for you to find out. I'll let you boys be." Elijah kissed the back of her hand affectionately and Katherine returned the favour with a peck on the cheek. "I love you Elijah," she whispered just for his brother to hear.

This was the first time Klaus had heard her say those words. Of course she always made it known she was in love with Elijah, and there was no doubt in his mind that in the privacy of the bedroom, they expressed their love for each other, but he hadn't heard Katherine say it like that. So soft and sincerely, the polar opposite of her nature. That was how Klaus wished to say it to Caroline. Whispers in her ear at meetings or training. At dinner or before a mission. He truly loved Caroline, but there may not be a chance to tell her how he felt.

"I love you too," Elijah smiled back, ruffling his fingers through her dark curls before helping her up.

Katherine caught Klaus staring as she slipped her pedicured feet into her stilettos, "hey. Eyes up here buddy."

"I wouldn't dare."

"I'll see you around, then," Katherine added after she put on her blue top and slung her leather jacket over her shoulder. "If not, have fun being king, wolf. I might miss you. Just a little bit."

As Katherine closed the door behind her Klaus turned back to Elijah who was readjusting his tie in the mirror. "So brother, what have you come to instruct me to do this time?"

Klaus slowly began to walk around the room, his fingers running across Elijah's smooth mahogany dresser. "Just a list of poor souls to harvest before I return," Klaus glanced at Elijah with a smile seeing his amused expression. His eyes returned to the furniture of the room. "Only to say I would appreciate it if you watched over Caroline while I'm away."

"How so?" Klaus gave his brother a sarcastic glare and Elijah cocked his head. "Excuse me if I come off as tedious. I'm afraid if I do anything straying from your plan, heads may be lost."

"Once I'm gone, mother's thirst for innocent blood might increase substantially. Check in with her and Caroline regularly. For all I know, in the depths of the night, mother might decide to enter Caroline's room and pull her throat out."

Elijah sat down on a dark leather arm chair, resting his right ankle on his left knee. "She'll grow to love her Niklaus. Caroline is much too dynamic to hate all aspects of her. You love her and mother must learn to accept it because there is only one thing keeping you apart. It is most certainly not her."

Klaus' blue eyes stayed glued to a set of drawers as he smirked. "I must admit, I do enjoy her alive. I expect not to be called for a bloody funeral. I fancy her Elijah–"

"Do not degrade your feelings brother. How dare you sum up what you feel for this girl in such a manner?" Elijah scolded with the subtly shocked look he always had on. It was as if he was amazed and amused at the same time. "I am nonetheless astounded that Caroline is still referred to with 'fancy'. You act as if she is yet another one of your meaningless flings, yet when you harm her heart, you act as if someone ripped your heart from your chest."

His brother was right, he did not just desire Caroline. Ever since the day he saved her from Tyler's ruthless hand, Caroline was a necessity for him to function properly. The way she smiled at him with her eyes from across the room before quickly clearing her throat and rolling them. How she finally laughed after trying the absolute hardest to contain them after Klaus made an inappropriate joke. She made Klaus feel genuine joy and pain like no other. Though he wouldn't trade their time together for the world.

That was love? Was it not? But Klaus was anything but ready for that conversation.

He tried to change the subject, but Elijah wouldn't budge and remained silent. Finally, with a sigh he gave in. "I do love her," Klaus admitted softly. "All that I want is my family to be made whole once more and Caroline to be a part of it. Instead I am hours away from being in the dark about Henrik's whereabouts and apprehensive about a woman who doesn't reciprocate my feelings, but loves the man who took my brother away."

"I understand. Have you told her that you love her?"

Klaus scoffed, "are you mad? Mother would have Caroline's head if news got to her. Once Caroline hears it, Bonnie and Elena will hear it, then Katerina and our dear sister will find out. Then the Salvatore's will know, once they know, everyone knows."

"Forgive me for this, but what happens if you do not return?"

That thought never passed through Klaus' mind, but what if this did turn out to be a full blown war? The citizens of the French Quarter would be in danger. TVD would lose many agents. What if The Other Side found out Virginia? Caroline would be a major target because of him. A vulnerable new assassin that the most lethal assassin was in love with. Klaus prayed it didn't go that far. He hoped that he and Marcel would be able to scare them away.

Instead of acknowledging Elijah's statement, all Klaus did was pause in his tracks for a second or two before continuing to run his fingertips across the furniture. "As for her training, do not allow Kol to touch her intimately at any circumstance. His activity with Caroline needs to be tracked at all times."

Elijah pinched the bridge of his nose as he sighed. "I presume you are not aware that I cannot put a leash on our brother. Mother already has reigns on him."

"Then tighten them," Klaus turned to face Elijah and smirked.

"Why can you not go talk to Kol about boundaries yourself? He is just as much my brother as he is yours. Your blood runs through his veins as yours does his."

"You two certainly have more similar blood coursing through your body if we're bringing up genetics," Klaus countered and Elijah gave him a sympathetic look, knowing that Klaus' feelings of unbelonging were a bit more sensitive topic.

His brother's eyes softened, "Niklaus…"

"Kol never listens to what I instruct him to do unless I threaten him with bodily harm. Plus, you're the big noble brother, he'll listen to you. And his bloody friendship excuses can go straight down to where I am condemned to. If his hands are on her for as long as a second, I will leave the French Quarter to stick a dagger in his chest."

Klaus was aware Elijah caught on his attempt to change the subject of his biological connection to his family. He didn't necessarily want to speak about father figures when Henrik was currently being held hostage by Mikael and there was nothing they could do about it until Bonnie tracked them down. Even then, Klaus would be in New Orleans and his mother would most likely do everything possible to keep the news from him.

"With Caroline's missions, be careful with her."

"Brother I perceive your desire to give Caroline the role of back catcher and preserve her innocence," Elijah started. "But I sense that is not her full potential. If you're requesting for her to refrain from killing, you understand that is not in my power."

"I am aware of the necessity of she learning to kill, but you saw how she reacted to the death of Daniel Warren–"

"–And you witnessed how she demolished him," Elijah interrupted. "We are an organization of assassins."

Klaus felt his heart sink at the pain Caroline would have to feel after taking someone's life. It was horrible for Klaus, he wept for the boy he killed, Caroline might feel ten times that pain. "We're also human," Klaus recited, remembering Caroline's words. Elijah didn't say anything and instead held his brother's gaze. "The last thing I could possibly want is for her to harden her heart as Camille did."

"As you wish."

A smirk spread across Klaus' lips. "Alright then, we're done here. I must quickly go purchase something almost as stunning for the most gorgeous lady at the ball." Klaus was nearly out of the door before his brother said his name.

"Niklaus, the identity of your father is irrelevant to us considering ours is the worst man to walk the earth. You are just as much my brother as Kol or Henrik or Finn. You are indeed the heart of our family here."

The smirk turned into a small smile and Klaus continued on his way out as he wondered what good he might've done to deserve such a brother.


	20. Chapter 20

"Rebekah I have everything under control," Caroline reassured her friend over the phone.

At last, Caroline was done with everything. Though the help was basically useless seeing that she had to direct their every step, by a miracle they got the work done. Caterers were scheduled for 7:00pm, the first cleaning squad had polished the Mikaelsons' house and a second group would be back at 6:00 to add some finishing touches. Invites had been handed out to everyone at noon, telling them it was a goodbye ball for Klaus, so no one should show up in shorts and t-shirts. All training and missions were shut down after 7:30. Everything was taken care of and seemingly perfect, but Caroline still had that nagging feeling that she was forgetting something. Maybe it was just old insecurities kicking in. After all, she was planning a ball that needed to be up to Esther Mikaelson's standards.

Klaus was also going to be gone by midnight. Caroline wasn't entirely sure how she felt. She was sad yes, terrified for him as well, and a bit nervous to be at TVD without him to support her. Then there was the heartache that was almost too much to bear, and the need to contain her feelings made it worse. To be honest, Caroline didn't want to keep it in and bottle it up, but Klaus couldn't be distracted. That would give Esther an even bigger reason to have her head delivered to her doorstep. She could also deal without Elena, Bonnie, Rebekah and Katherine's 'I told you so's.

At the same time, Caroline wanted everyone to know so they could be together. Even though Caroline didn't show it, deep down inside she wanted people like Esther to accept her for liking him. The need to tell Klaus that she felt… something was almost unbearable. This night could be the last night they ever see each other. Klaus could decide not to come back and instead continue his reign in New Orleans after the mysterious mission was over. There was no way Caroline could text Klaus saying that she wanted him in the most confusing, heartwarming, embarrassing and downright dirty way. That's more mortifying than in real life.

Though she didn't like to think of it, Klaus could never come back because something bad could happen.

Then he could be gone.

Forever.

On top of that, there was the Tyler issue. According to her morals, there couldn't even be an option to tell Klaus how she felt until Tyler knew as well. Caroline didn't love him the way she did before. Did she even know him before a few days ago? Everything she fought for was a waste of time and energy. The Tyler that she loved turned out to be a lying, manipulative, betraying son of a bitch and Caroline couldn't see past the illusion she created. Their relationship needed to end today. Once that was out of the way, they could be strictly professional and it would be easier to find more information on Mikael's involvement with The Other Side. Even though he'd most likely be furious and blame his circumstances all on Klaus before saying a word.

"Care are you still there?" Rebekah asked on the other end of the line.

"Yeah," she sighed, "I'm here."

Rebekah seemed super nervous about the ball tonight, but for different reasons than expected. She told Caroline she was anxious that her and Klaus wouldn't kiss under the full moon before he left to get on the jet as the clock struck midnight. Rebekah had no right to be worrying about that of all things when her brother was being thrown into battle. Plus, that would never happen. Not in a million years. Esther wouldn't let it happen. Not when a kiss could convince him to stay. Caroline couldn't let it happen.

"So, how exactly are you feeling about Nik now? Any romantic thoughts wandering to that head of yours?"

"Rebekah…" Caroline sighed.

"Any filthy urges? Well more filthy urges than usual?" From the tone of her voice, Caroline could tell Rebekah had on a Cheshire grin.

Her ears went red and she felt the heat flocking to her cheeks. There were no dirty thoughts period. It was crazy for even Rebekah to suggest that. Well maybe there was this one time her hands went exploring and Klaus happened to be in her fantasies to get on… and off. Perhaps it was more than once…

A laugh from the phone broke Caroline's train of thought. "Oh my bloody hell, there are, aren't there! You serious think of Nik when you—"

"Where the fuck are you and why are you yelling this for the whole world to know?" Caroline hissed in embarrassment. "I never said I masturbated to Klaus!"

"But you didn't say otherwise, did you love?"

Her blue eyes rolled as she stepped into the elevator of her building with three other people. She gave them a quick smile before covering the speaker of her phone. "Don't forget that the ball begins at 8:00pm and ends right before midnight. Oh and being fashionably late isn't fashionable, it's just sloppy." They glared at her and she shrugged and pressed the button and put the phone up to her ear. "Haha very funny."

"At the moment I'm picking up my dress from the dry cleaners in Mystic Falls. This small little town you have is barely big enough for both the Salvatores, but it's cute. On that note, you have yet to show me what you intend to wear tonight."

Caroline swore under her breath and groaned. _Oh my God no. No, no, no this can't be happening That's what I forgot! How could I forget? It's the most important part of a ball. The dress is the most important part of the ball! This is bad, really, really bad. Seriously Care? Why are you so stupid? When the hell are you going to have the time to get a dress? There has to be something in my closet right?_

"Hello?! Earth to Caroline!" Rebekah yelled. "Are you still out there?"

The elevator dinged and Caroline rushed out frantically, unsure of what to do. "The dress Rebekah, I forgot my dress! How could I possibly mess up this bad? What am I going to do? I'll have to walk in there like a fool wearing jeans and a sweater!"

"Calm down sweets. I can just pick something up for you while I'm here or even better, you could come down to Mystic Falls and we can pick something together. It's on me."

Caroline took a deep breath. It was 3:00pm, meaning there was five hours before the ball officially started. In those five hours, Caroline needed to break up with Tyler and try to extract all the information she could about Mikael. Even a little info could put Klaus' mind at peace for a little while as he left. Then she needed to grab coffee with Enzo to invite him and catch him up on Klaus. Possibly ask him for some advice on the whole situation. Find Stefan and get him to supervise the employees that were hired and because he's the only one free AKA the only one that will succumb to her charms. The floor needed to be scrubbed, the railings needed to be dusted. The champagne glasses need to be counted, champagne needs to be chilled to perfection. Everything could go wrong in five hours. Anything could destroy her plans for Klaus' perfect goodbye. Allowing Rebekah to choose a dress for her was nerve wrecking and going to accompany her would obliterate her nerves. There were too many things to do, getting a dress was hopeless.

"No, it's fine. I'll figure something else out. There are just too many things to do."

Rebekah gasped, "what the bloody hell is more important than getting a dress and waltzing into the ball looking and feeling like a princess?"

"Inviting a friend to the ball, making sure the workers are properly preparing for the ball. Talking to Tyler about your dad and brother and trying to find some closure for Klaus who is going to be away for God knows how long."

"Friend? Caroline you have no friends outside of this Mystic Falls."

"I do so! His name is Enzo St. John and he works for TVD in the weaponry business of whatever. We talk about things. Which are mostly about my life and troubles that correspond with it."

Her friend seemed to think about the name as the line went silent. "St. John? Doesn't ring any bells. Most likely because he's irrelevant or not cute enough to peak my interest. You say you talk? How come he's never been mentioned? It's like he's a dirty secret…" The line went silent again, "Caroline are you screwing him?! You are aware Nik will have his head if he was ever to find out."

"I'm not screwing anyone Rebekah! Enzo's already Bonnie's new plaything. All my intentions are pure. Even though he is excruciatingly hot with the cutest little accent."

"It seems like my brother has given you a new type. Enzo or not, Caroline you deserve it, after all the stress this has put you under."

Planning the ball was actually more of a stress reliever than a source of stress. It helped her take her mind off of Klaus and think clearly for an hour or two. Though most of her thoughts would be of him and his beautiful eyes and cute dimples and sexy accent–

_Snap out of it Caroline Forbes!_

"I know, but– I'll have to see what happens. What you need to focus on is saying the goodbye before the goodbye to your brother. You two were just reunited a few weeks ago. I know it's going to be hard to let him go again."

"That's a good idea though I know you're trying to distract me from the subject of Enzo and dresses. Nik might be busy speaking to Elijah or mother of thinking of you but I'll ring him in a sec. Bye for now."

The phone call ended with a beep and Caroline wasn't surprised when she opened the door and it was unlocked. Her roommate must've left earlier. Katherine looked like she wasn't home yet so there was no need to add walking into Kat and Elijah's activities to her list. She sighed and placed her phone on the counter. The only thing that was on Caroline's mind now was how she was supposed to talk to Tyler.

_Do I start it with the generic 'hey we need to talk' or would that be too obvious. It could scare Tyler to put his defences up before I could even start the convo. Maybe I should tell him I have completed the ultimatum he gave me before I stormed off to scold Klaus. Yeah that will work, I could be like, 'I learned something about Klaus like you told me to.' But what if Klaus is a trigger word or something and does that make me sound like a little bitch?_

A sharp knock on the door cut through her thoughts. Curious at who had the decency to knock these days, Caroline turned on her heel and opened the door. There was no one there and the first thing that came to mind was ding dong ditchers but no one at TVD really had time for that stuff. She was about to close the door until her eyes landed on a box. After poking her head out into the hallway and making sure no one was pranking her, Caroline grabbed the box and closed the door behind her.

Dropping the box on the bed, Caroline cautiously picked up the card attached. It was addressed to her and when she flipped it over, there was a red seal. Caroline opened the letter and saw that it was the invitation she designed and made a face that said seriously. On the back was a note.

'Save me a dance, Fondly, Klaus'

Caroline scoffed, "seriously?" Only Klaus would do something as dumb as this. No matter how sweet it was, it was still stupid. Now for the gift. Her jaw nearly dropped when she opened the box. There was the most beautiful blue dress in it. The top was decoratively embroidered at the top and a pair of white silk gloves laid beside it. All of it must've been super expensive.

"Oh my God…"

...

"I'll be fine Elijah. I have the recording device in my pocket so if I do get hurt, I won't be able to lie about it. This is really important for me to do for myself and your family."

Elijah trusted her, Caroline knew that much, but she could tell that he was holding back either because he didn't trust Tyler or because of what Klaus might think. "I cannot have you getting hurt for my family on today of all days. Niklaus is vulnerable and so is my mother. Something the two have in common is when they are consumed by vulnerability, they make irrational decisions. For Niklaus particularly, he would resort to killing Tyler or staying back in Virginia. As for our mother, that would be killing you."

"Tyler won't hurt me," Caroline replied convincingly.

"Tyler physically cannot hurt you," Elijah corrected, "there is a difference Caroline. He may be bound to the wall by his hands and feet but his tongue remains unchained and untamed. Asking me to leave you here on your own is absurd and dangerous."

Caroline gave him a small smile for his distress, "I know it, but we need to be alone, he might not open up if you're here. Like I said before, I'll be fine." Hesitantly, she gave him a hug to reassure him. "Thank you for worrying and for being such a good brother. I'll see you tonight."

Slowly, Caroline let go of Elijah and he gave her a warning look before leaving her alone with her soon to be ex boyfriend.

The cell door was open so she let herself in after taking a deep breath to prepare for the worse. "Hey Tyler."

Tyler's dark eyes followed her every step to the opposite side of the cell he resided in. As she sat down on the floor, the water bottle in her hand crinkled. "Is that for me?"

Confused, she cocked her head, but then realized what he was talking about and quickly nodded. Caroline looked him up and down. He had scars over his chest and face, but no broken skin with fresh blood, just bruises. Tyler looked resilient as ever, maybe the Mikaelson's were going easy on him now that they knew Henrik was out there. She rolled the water bottle towards him and he caught it without breaking eye contact. The intensity of his gaze almost made Caroline swallow in fear, but she caught herself quickly.

"So has Jeremy or Elena or anyone come see you recently?"

Tyler narrowed his eyes at her attempt at an ice breaker. "Are you scared to touch me now? Your little Mikaelson friends don't seem to mind. They love to put their hands all over me."

"Ty, I forgot I had it," she sighed. "Don't make things like that please."

"Cut the shit Care, we both know you're not here to have a friendly chat so why are you here? I thought I told you to leave and never come back."

"You told me to come back when I knew Klaus. I'm back because I completed your ultimatum. I know Klaus."

After taking a gulp of water Tyler scoffed and crossed his arms, "you know Klaus, huh? You know why that dickhead murdered my mom? You know why he's a heartless monster? Please enlighten me." Caroline took another deep breath, and Tyler glared, basically telling her to start talking.

"Klaus is an assassin. Meaning, he's cold and angry and ruthless and rash and I've seen him be all of those things so I'm not going to deny it. However before he was all of that, he was a kid. A kid with no real dad. Klaus' biological dad… was not in the picture and for Mikael, he was a dick."

Tyler squirmed uncomfortably when she said Mikael. There was a connection between him and Mikael and by his reaction, it wasn't the best one. Either Mikael was working with TOS or that he had a hand in the plan to kill Klaus and steal Henrik. Or both. That was a start. "So what? My dad was a dick too."

Caroline sighed, "no it wasn't like you and your dad Ty. Mikael nearly beat him to death on a regular basis. By regular basis I mean everyday and every night. Elijah, Kol and Rebekah weren't strong enough to stop Mikael no matter how hard they tried. Their failed attempts just made him angrier. Esther didn't leave with the family because she didn't have the resources and Mikael had hurt her for cheating on him as well. It was a hopeless situation."

"Why didn't Esther or Klaus just find his real dad? He could've helped them out," Tyler muttered and Caroline bit back a sassy retort. Tyler knew this story and he the way he was acting about it didn't sit right with her.

"Klaus did find his real dad. Dead and covered in blood at the middle of the night in the middle of the woods for his mother to find. It was Mikael's doing. The worst thing about this was after nothing changed. Klaus went back and cried, woke up the next morning and was relentlessly beaten by someone who was supposed to love you and care about you."

"What so his life was a sob story?" Tyler snarled. "His dad hammered him until he was a stone cold assassin that kills innocent people?"

How could Tyler be so insensitive? Klaus had told him all about this and he was sitting there acting like he didn't even know Mikael. Just like when Caroline talked about Tyler's mom with Klaus and he acted like there was no history between them. It made her sick to her stomach. Especially since Tyler's dad wasn't the greatest either, that should've made him at least a little sympathetic.

"At that point of his life, Klaus was scared, hurt, and broken. One day Klaus had enough. He stabbed Mikael and left him to die in the forest as Mikael did to his father. After that, the only thing that Klaus truly cared about was his family. Henrik was especially important to him, seeing that it was his fault Henrik had no father figure. Then he met you and his other Hybrids."

"Great this isn't even about how much you know about Klaus is it? This isn't about you learning about the dark sides of that monster Mikaelson and finally letting him go. It's the Mikaelson's trying to get information off of me."

Caroline growled in frustration, "the Mikaelson's didn't put me up to anything! You were a part of Klaus' new family. He told me he increased your salary, trusted you with his secrets, he told you about his father. So why did you betray him?"

"The other Hybrids were–"

"God Tyler can't you see I don't care about the other Hybrids! Klaus trusted you the most and you knew how his dad tortured him. How could you work with Mikael and The Other Side to steal away his little brother and then kill him?"

Caroline knew that saying Tyler was working with Mikael outright was a risky move but hopefully she sounded confident enough to be convincing. As she held his gaze, she remembered how those brown used to look at her with love and laughter. Now they were hard and uncaring. How long had they looked at Caroline like that?

He sighed, "Care I did it for you. I love–"

Before Tyler could finish, Caroline started shaking her head. He didn't love her, all he did was hurt her. It just angered her to hear him say something that he didn't mean. She couldn't let herself be tricked again, not when she already made up her mind.

"Klaus increased your salary, he would let you blow off missions to come see me and he payed for my birthday trip to Brazil. I barely saw you at Whitmore, Ty! Were you going to see Hayley in all that free time or were there other girls too? How the hell were you doing this for me?!"

"Care I wasn't seeing anyone, I swear! Just calm down for a second and let me explain," Tyler answered, making Caroline quiet down and subtly feel for the recorder in her pocket.

This is it Caroline, Tyler's gonna confess and then the Mikaelson's will know that The Other Side took Henrik and were the ones who turned the Hybrids against Klaus. They and Silas would also know that Mikael was working with them to take down TVD. Maybe this tape could possibly help Klaus with his mysteriously dangerous mission. I wouldn't be surprised if it had something to do with TOS as well, but all that matters is getting this taped and breaking up with him.

"I asked to miss some missions so I could meet up with Mikael and other TOS members. We were going to kill the Mikaelsons and take over TVD."

"Seriously? How the hell did you think you could kill all the Mikaelsons in one blow? That's crazy and stupid! You worked with the Mikaelsons, you knew they'd be after you if it failed."

"You're forgetting we have a Mikaelson on our side as well. Mikael knew TVD inside out and so did we. Finally I wouldn't be Klaus' little bitch anymore. I was going to be on top and you'd be right there beside me."

"Ty you know that's not what I want. All I wanted was to build a life with you and now look where we are. You're in a cell and I'm going to be an assassin."

Completely ignoring her, Tyler continued. "The only problem we had was Klaus."

Caroline furrowed her brows, "what was wrong with Klaus?"

"Like you said," Tyler shrugged, "he's impulsive and paranoid. Us turning on him wasn't going to be a surprise. You of all people should know from all the secrets he keeps from you, Klaus doesn't trust anyone. He's always watching his own back. Then there was his obsession with Henrik. Mikael didn't want to kill Henrik, apparently he wasn't corrupt yet, but there was no way Klaus would let that happen. Klaus and Henrik were always together apart from missions."

"Love isn't an obsession Tyler," Caroline muttered.

Tyler didn't waste any time to shoot back a reply, "then why– you know what? You're right, love isn't an obsession. That's why Klaus acts like that to you."

"Klaus isn't obsessed with me…"

"The only reason Klaus is so into you is because he wants to make my life miserable! He doesn't care about you, he wants to claim you just to spite me. I know you didn't just come here to get information about Mikael, you wanted to tell me you finally spread your legs for Klaus."

"God would you shut up Tyler! You know Klaus isn't like that at all! At times he may be impulsive and paranoid and angry, but he's good to me. He was good to you! He's good to his family and his friends and his allies. When he's impulsive it's because he wants to keep the people close to him safe. When he's paranoid he's scared of what will happen to his family without him. When he's angry, he's sad or full of regret. I'm not saying that this is an excuse for him being a dick no, Klaus still hurt me, but at least I know there's a reason behind what he's feeling!"

Tyler's brown eyes rolled, "I had to deal with the stress of going behind my deadly bosses back and then when I got home you're bitching about Elena or Damon or school and it just made it worse!"

"That's your own fault! Thanks to you I had no idea you were an assassin! To me when you got home, you were mad for an unknown reason. Then you hurt me! Physically and emotionally and mentally and sexually! Unlike you, Klaus doesn't force me to do anything with him! I can make my own decisions. Unlike you, I believe in loyalty and I didn't sleep with him because I'm your girlfriend."

"I thought you were dead!"

"Well to me you are basically dead!" Caroline yelled, shutting Tyler up. "You aren't who you were when we started dating. I loved you so much that I couldn't see what was really going on."

Disbelief washed over his face, "loved?"

"Yes Tyler, loved as in past tense. When I met Klaus, it was like I had no idea what love was. He always listens to my stupid tangents and jokes with me even when I'm bitching. Klaus does what's best for our relationship, he cares about me and is annoyingly worried about me every moment of the day. If you didn't know, Klaus is leaving for New Orleans today and there is a possibility I'll never see him again. I don't know if I can let him leave without telling him how I feel. I can't do that if I'm still your little bitch."

"So what? You're breaking up with me?! After all I've done for you, after I was the only one who loved you. Matt couldn't deal with your mood swings, Damon couldn't stand your attitude and I took you in, you ungrateful little whore!"

Caroline scoffed, "believe it or not, Klaus actually loves me and that's more than what you can say. I'm breaking up with you not because of Klaus or even your disgusting scandal with your little wolf slut Hayley. It's because I am so done with your bullshit!"

"Do you even know what he's doing in New Orleans? Why is it so dangerous? Why might you never see him again?" Caroline looked away and she could hear Tyler snickering. "Of course you don't. Klaus didn't tell you because he doesn't trust you. To him you're just a prize! A trophy to flaunt over me."

This was bullshit and Caroline was done with it.

As Caroline got up and began to walk away, Tyler looked up at her in disbelief. "What? So you love that piece of shit monster now? You're trying to get back at me for Hayley, aren't you?! Caroline you can't do this to me!"

"You know what, maybe I do Tyler," Caroline gave him a conniving smile as she paused before stepping out, "but I'm sure as hell I don't love you!"

"Kiss my ass Care! You think this is over? You think you can walk out of here and be free of me? Then you're blind. We have ears on the inside, we're closer to you than you think! You guy's are looking in all the wrong places and when we strike, you won't know what hit you."

When the slamming of the cell door cut Tyler off, Caroline exhaled knowing there to figure out about Klaus and a lot to tell Enzo.

* * *

Klaus irritatedly sighed as his mother straightened his black blazer and straightened his white bowtie. "You look good Niklaus. When did you get this tie?"

"Mother would you like to continue fussing over my attire or will you tell me what's going on in that diabolical mind of yours?"

"It's only I haven't seen you dressed up so nicely in ages," Esther casually replied while smoothening the nonexistent wrinkles in his suit. "Who knows when next you'll be like this."

A smirk creeped up his lips, "don't tell me you are getting cold feet. You mother was the one who forced this tragedy upon me not the other way around. I was to throw away all my responsibilities and rush into the claws of danger to never return. Who knew we would be here on the day on my leave?"

"Niklaus," Esther said in a warning tone. "I love you child, but I certainly do not have cold feet. I am more concerned for your relationships with people here in Virginia than your departure to our facility in New Orleans."

"If this is about my dearest sister, I've made sure Rebekah won't get into trouble with a certain Salvatore once I leave. I also established that Kol will not be having too much fun finding trouble without me."

"Niklaus now is not the time for your games. Today is severely important for you and our extended family in New Orleans. I will not have it ruined by a mere soul you find interesting to look at and I hope you have cut ties with her." Klaus sighed with an eye roll making Esther give him that warning look once more. "I am asking if your relationship has ended Niklaus."

He smiled at the thought of Caroline finding his little gift he left her. She would no doubtably look ravishing that night and it would look incredible with the bracelet Klaus was meaning to give her later in the evening. "It hasn't ended mother, I fancy her and I believe my romantic interests has nothing to do with you. Caroline is my friend." Yet she's so much more.

Esther's brown eyes went cold as she stared into Klaus' blue ones. "My little wolf it's incredulous how blind you have become. This Caroline has completely clouded your sane judgment. You love her, yet she feels nothing for you. You are that girl's saviour and protector, yet she only has eyes for Tyler Lockwood. The person who betrayed our family and has put her in life threatening danger on multiple occasions. Tyler is her lover and you're nothing short of delusional if you think he does not put ideas in her head. Remember when you allowed her to speak to Tyler three days after we put him in the dungeon?"

"No," Klaus sighed as he furrowed his brow sarcastically, "I don't think I do. Though I'm sure you would love to refresh my memory."

"She rushed out in a fit of anger and then came after you, believing every word that Tyler had fed to her."

"Well in her defence she did ask me if I killed his mother before scolding me and she then proceeded to hear out my end of the tale very politely if I do say so myself."

Esther's eyes hardened, implicating she was now being serious. "Niklaus you need someone that isn't so easily wavered. Someone who is persistent, loyal, and not so nearsighted. You need someone who makes decisions for the future not on a whim or a gut feeling. Camille acquires all those qualities and Caroline does not."

"Do not fool yourself mother, Caroline is as much those things as Cami is! She was persistent with her mission of finding Tyler for our family's sake just as much as hers. Repetitively, she's been loyal to me when you throw all sorts of things at her. Attempting to have her betray me. Caroline has successfully planned a ball for you and is making decisions on a nursery for your agents' children. For your grandchildren."

"Caroline Forbes is not one of us. She thinks you're a monster, she thinks us all monsters. How hard is it for you to see that? She is nothing like us, Niklaus. She is innocent and naive. She intends to sever all ties between the two of you tonight."

"No mother, you intend to be the one severing ties with the woman I love." Klaus retorted and he felt his heart begin to quicken it's pace at the words that left his lips. Klaus remembered her soft, plump lips on her cheek and her glossy blue eyes that shone in the moonlight nights ago. He loved Caroline there was no doubt of it and now that it had been spoken it into words, it suddenly felt so much harder to leave her. "Though Caroline may not reciprocate my feelings, I love her no less than I did when Tyler Lockwood was in another state. She has no means to harm me tonight and will not say anything to stop me from preventing The Other Side from invading my home and taking life from those I love. But if you do so much as glare at her mother I will stay to merely stop you from harming her."

Esther stayed silent for a moment, glancing back at the phone on her desk. Silas was on a call, the only reason she didn't want to make a scene. "Very well, my little wolf. I will comply to your wishes only because I love you, my children and our assassins more than you love that girl—"

"I highly doubt it."

"—and New Orleans needs you. We must put an end to The Other Side's torture. It is the only way we will ever make peace within ourselves. It's the only way we will find my son."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at his mother's comment and smiled. "Though I know making peace with one another is very important to you, but it seems like so is war. I know that much because Silas seems to have that impression on you. Am I going to see you tonight Silas?!" Klaus called out, knowing there would be no answer. "What is mother the only one that can hear your voice? Shame."

"Niklaus now is not the time to question authority…"

Just then, the doorbell rang and Klaus smirked, nothing short of glad he was saved by the bell. It was finally time to see Caroline in the dress he gifted her. She had been avoiding him after he asked her out on the date he was promised. "We've got guests mommy dearest."

...

"Hey happy birthday man," a brunette kid smiled as he slapped Klaus on the shoulder while his champagne was sloshing in his other hand. The Mikaelson house was buzzing with jazz music and full of guests in suits and gowns and so far there was no sign of Caroline. The party was nice, the guests had all been greeting Klaus and thanking him for all his service as if he was a veteran. Some were more friendly than others. Especially the women, who wouldn't stop flirting with him, but he wouldn't be satisfied until he saw her.

"Jeremy love, it's not his birthday. If it was then he most likely would be finding company with strippers," Kol snickered as he slung his arm over Jeremy's shoulders. "Though for this year in particular, big bro would be wanking off to Caroline."

Klaus gave his younger brother a deadly glare, "shut up before I stick a dagger through your liver, Kol. You're making me wish I was dead already." Kol's statement may have been true, but that doesn't let it slide.

"Your depressing humour and constant death threats is the very reason I love you Nik. I miss you already!"

A smile cracked his annoyed facade and Klaus let out a small laugh. "Thank you Jeremy, say hello to your nice sister for me will you?"

"Sure man," Jeremy shrugged before walking off with Kol and asking, 'Which one is that again?' He rested his brown head of hair on Kol's shoulder and Kol ruffled it slightly with a smile. Klaus wondered if Bonnie knew that her two admirers had formed an attraction towards each other after her rejection.

"Klaus, we need to talk," a voice announced from behind him and he turned around to find the blonde football player who was carrying Caroline back from Mystic Falls.

He narrowed his eyes and took him in. He was wearing a regular suit with a black tie, there was no way Caroline would go back to him while he was in New Orleans. But she did date him before. There was no one to stop her from going back to him. "I assume you're here to break up with me."

"It was really messed up of you to kill Tyler's mom even if he did take your brother. I know you're not going to apologize so–"

"Not going to apologize?" Klaus gasped sarcastically. "Do you think me a scoundrel? I am wholeheartedly sorry that Tyler Lockwood fucked me over, turned my closest agents against me, attempted to murder me and stole my ten year old brother."

Matt sighed, "look. I get you're leaving tonight and all, but stay away from Caroline after this. I mean don't contact her while you're gone. You've been holding her back for long enough. You're dragging her into dangerous situations, doing her more harm than good. So leave her alone."

In a second, Klaus's face went straight again causing Matt to slightly flinch. Matt Donavon wanted Caroline for himself. He didn't know that Tyler and Esther had a new recruit to the hate club. "How could I leave her alone?" Klaus asked as he took a step closer to Matt. "How could I when she's the most beautiful creature in this world? How could I when I touch her and she feels electricity? How could I when she so loves the dirty little things I whisper in her ear–"

"Leave him alone Klaus," his favourite Salvatore's voice ordered and Klaus turned to see Elena, Damon and Stefan. Elena wore a black and gold gown and a Salvatore on each arm. "There are more important things to do."

"If it isn't the very faces of Mystic Falls," Klaus smirked. "Elena, Damon, Stefan. How are you enjoying the party planned by your very own town's finest?"

"Care did a great job but causing a fistfight with Matt would ruin it before she could even get here," Elena pointed out and before Klaus could ask Elena shrugged. "No, I don't know where Caroline is. But it's only been twenty minutes. Care will be here. I'm positive. There's no way she would miss out on her own party, plus she takes every chance she gets to see you–"

Stefan cleared his throat, making Elena quiet down, "hey Klaus, thanks for being a friend type. Though I hate to admit it, our times together will be missed. You'll be missed."

"Ditto," Damon added. "Without all the friends, times together, missed stuff of course."

"Hey, be nice," Elena told him. "Thank you Klaus for getting me into the medic program and loving Caroline so much."

"Thank you all, excluding Damon of course," Klaus rolled his eyes at Damon's exaggerated yawn.

Elena's eyes wandered behind him and she gasped as she stormed towards her brother. "I told you Jer, take it easy on the booze!" Stefan patted Klaus' shoulder before chasing after Elena.

Damon smirked at Klaus as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned into Klaus' ear, "next time busboy tries to go after your girl, knock him out. Caroline's always liked the rough type. There are zero reasons for you to worry about little Matt Donavon when Caroline is so into you."

"And how would you know Mr Salvatore?" Klaus smiled, very amused.

"Believe me," Damon winked as he slapped Klaus' shoulder as Stefan did. "She has a thing for accents. Have a good trip, wolfie. Come back alive won't you?"

"I'll be lucky if I don't!" Klaus yelled back and Damon gave him the finger.

A small laugh came from behind him and he saw Bonnie Bennett in a nude pink cowl neck dress holding onto a man with dark hair in a dark suit. "What was that about? Do I need to go set Damon on fire again?"

"Do I need to go inform Kol and Jeremy that their favourite gal is hanging out with yet another man? Should I pull him off of you now or does he need to experience the Bennett heartbreak to better himself? To become a real man."

"I doubt that will happen," the man answered for Bonnie in a British accent. Klaus had never seen him before so he was surprised how Bonnie knew him. She barely left her work office.

"No believe me it will. Kol and Jeremy Gilbert learned to put their similar attraction to Bonnie aside after brutal and constant rejection and have seemingly formed an attraction for each other."

Bonnie's jaw dropped in a wide smile, "no way! I knew they wanted to threesome me but not for that reason! This worked out perfectly. I don't think Kol will stop hitting on me, but now it won't really matter."

"I'm glad–" Klaus was cut off by a hug from the small witchy colleague. Hesitantly, he hugged her back. "If finding out about my brother's affairs I would've allowed him to deliver the news."

"Stay safe, okay Klaus? We need you back here, Caroline needs you back here. And say hi to Freya for me if you can."

As she pulled away, he nodded and said his goodbyes to Bonnie. She was never the first on the list of who he'd miss, but now Klaus was realizing how hard it might be not to leave, but to stay away. If this was the way he felt about Bonnie Bennett half an hour into the party, how would he be with his mother? Kol? Elijah? Rebekah? Caroline? How could he be away from them for months, possibly years? Would this be the last he'd see of his colleagues, family and friends? The last time he'd see the beautiful bright smile of the woman he fell in love with? Had it already been the last time?

What seemed like hours passed by while he asked himself these tough questions and someone saying his name broke through his thoughts. Klaus had to bite back a growl when he recognized the voice. "Hello, Cami."

"Klaus we need to talk…"

"If you're here to convince me to let go of Caroline or to sabotage my relationship with her, there is no such need." Klaus turned to see Camille in a pale yellow dress that flowed gracefully behind her every step her exposed legs took. Years ago, Klaus' jaw might've dropped, but now that Camille's true nature had been exposed, she didn't seem so stunning.

Camille took a deep breath, "we're going to be together in New Orleans for a while and I can't let that– I can't let Caroline come between us. Klaus I'm sorry for what I did, I know how petty and jealous I was being but it was only because I wanted to spend time with you once I came. When I showed up and bumped into you, unfortunately I thought it was going to be all sunshine and rainbows. I thought that we could finally be together again. Then I saw her. Better yet, I saw the way you look at her and it was over for us."

In Camille's eyes was sadness and pain, Klaus pitied her. Though Camille's wasted hope for the two of them was not an excuse for what she did, he knew she was at least a little sorry. "So you unbelievably heightened Caroline's insecurities and destroyed the trust aspect between both my relationship with her and with you because of your obliviousness? This makes me think of your actions so differently."

"You know we barely got to spend time together once I got here because you were always trying to make amends with Caroline!"

"I had to make amends because of the problems you caused–"

"Klaus is it so bad that I just wanted to just be with you after all I went through to find you? After you left me in New Orleans with no explanation? I begged to be in TVD and I trained my ass off for even the slightest chance to find you. I get it, you think Caroline's super hot, hell I think Caroline's super hot but she's hurting you and you know it. It hurts to see someone you like who's so obsessed with someone else, but you'll never get your chance with her."

"I have reasons to believe you're speaking from personal experiences, but you and I are not the same Cami. Not only do I find Caroline extremely attractive," Klaus started as his eyes caught the door opening. In walked none other than Caroline Forbes in all her glory. The blue dress looked incredible on her and her golden locks were up in a loose bun with strands framing her face. His heart began to beat faster. "I'm in love with her."

Not giving Camille a second thought, Klaus walked towards the front entrance and met Caroline's eyes. He saw her breath hitch and he knew he was holding his breath as well. She shook her head a little before she made her way over to him and Klaus had to restrain himself from taking her upstairs and ripping that lovely dress off of her himself. "Good evening," Klaus' eyes never left hers as he offered her his arm and watched her gloved fingers reach for it before they paused and retracted. "You're late, love. It's 8:36 and I recall you ordering me to be ready for our date."

Caroline opened her mouth to say something, but instead gave him a sarcastic smile. "I need a drink."

...

"Did you do all of these?" Caroline asked, undeniably grinning as she gazed at his art collection on the walls and tables of his gallery room.

Klaus nodded before shrugging bashfully with a small chuckle, turning away as Caroline gleamed at him, waiting for an answer. "Yeah. Art has been a passion of mine since before my life took a traumatic turn." She gave him a comforting smile before taking a look at his sketches sprawled out on a table. "I dabble in a few different types of art. Landscapes are one of my favourites as you might have been able to tell from the walls and past conversations, but I also love to draw portraits."

"These are beautiful, Klaus," Caroline sighed, picking up different sketches before finding a few of herself. "Oh, Klaus…"

As she was distracted, Klaus pulled out a small black box containing a diamond bracelet he had gotten as a gift from Aurora's family while they were still on good terms. It would look much better on Caroline's wrist than in a locked drawer for another thousand years.

"You're super talented, you know? You could put all of these in museums." Caroline turned to see him with his hand behind his back and a mischievous smile on. "What? Holding back a sketch of me drawn like one of your French girls?"

"For that I would need inspiration and unfortunately you have yet to accept my request to have sex with you," Klaus laughed while walking towards her. "As you said love, I am talented. Talented in many, many ways."

Caroline rolled her eyes and scoffed, "then what's behind your back? It's already like 11:40. Esther will bust my ass if we're late."

His smile fell a bit, their time together was running out. "I have a gift for you. It belonged to the royal ancestors of my dear Aurora de Martel."

"I won't get chased down by a psychotic princess next week if I accept this gift right?"

Klaus chuckled and handed her the rectangular box, watching intently as her eyes lit up as she opened it. Caroline shook her head, "God Klaus was that royal a bajillionaire?! You can't give this to me. What about Rebekah or Esther or–"

"It belonged to a princess whose descendants produced a psychopath, I think now it should be worn by a princess whose sanity is still intact. Now you'll have something to remember the man who pulled you out of the car he set on fire." Caroline laughed as Klaus helped her put it over her white glove. As they stood there in comfortable silence smiling as they gazed at each other, Caroline's face suddenly fell. She sat down on the antique velvet couch behind them and Klaus followed her soon after. "What is it, love?"

"I talked to Tyler today," Caroline whispered sadly, "and I got a recording of him confessing to conspiring with Mikael to kill you. He also admitted that it was Mikael who convinced all your Hybrids to turn against you. And that Mikael gave Tyler the order to take Henrik away. And that Mikael works for TOS and he bribed Tyler to transfer to TOS by saying that he wouldn't be your "little bitch" anymore. Mikael told Tyler he would finally be on top. Klaus, I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry."

Klaus shook his head as cupped Caroline's cheek and she rested her face on it. God, how he wanted to kiss her but the time was so wrong. If their lips touched, there was no chance in hell he would be going to New Orleans. "What for love? You've done nothing wrong."

"He used me as an excuse to get to you Klaus. Tyler used me as a way to manipulate you into giving him money that went into an operation to kidnap your brother and a trip to kill me and run away. Maybe if I knew, if I found out sooner, I could've stopped him somehow. Maybe I could've saved your brother."

"If you knew, I would've never met you. You wouldn't have been hurt by my many attempts to gain your affection either. If you knew you wouldn't be here right now and it wouldn't be so hard to leave Virginia."

Caroline looked away, "while I was with Tyler I– He reminded me that I don't even know what you're going to be doing in New Orleans. Tell me, please. So I don't have to find out an hour later from one of your siblings."

"The Other Side threatened our branch in the French Quarter," Klaus let go of her slowly and sighed when she asked how. "One of Marcel's daywalkers went to locate the exact location of The Other Side but while he was on the mission, they lost connection. He was sent back to TVD with Werewolf Venom, which is a very poisonous substance, in his system to tell Marcel that they were coming for them. My family is in danger, I must go help them even if it means war."

"War?! I won't be able to text you or call you like you promised me! You could get captured while calling me and injected with that Werewolf Venom! Or sniped while you're looking for the right emoji to send me!"

Klaus laughed and helped her to her feet, "I'm immune to Werewolf Venom there's nothing to worry about. Now we have to get to the tarmac before Camille leaves without me which I'm guessing is not a threat you worry about."

"Klaus this is serious! You never told me you were going to war, guns blazing!" Caroline yelled as Klaus pulled her out of the art room with an undeniable smile.

* * *

Caroline rewrapped her silver shawl around her arms while she watched Esther give Camille a goodbye hug before making her way to Klaus. It was just the Mikaelsons plus Caroline now. The ball was being cleared out by Alaric and the Salvatores while they were to say their goodbyes to Klaus. Esther almost made her stay back, but the other Mikaelsons wouldn't allow it.

She nervously fidgeted with the diamond bracelet on her wrist as she watched Klaus and Esther exchange kisses on the cheek. In the art gallery, Caroline attempted to tell Klaus but chickened out. This was her last chance before what could be an eternity of them apart. She wanted to kiss him before he left with Camille to throw himself into danger. The problem was Caroline didn't know if she had the guts to.

"Goodbye Nik, I'll greatly miss all the fun we have together," Kol admitted as he gave his brother a hug in front of the jet's stairs. "Don't destroy all of those pests, leave some for the rest of us won't you mate?"

"Only if you don't continue your reckless behaviour without me. You'll only have Elijah to clean up your messes from now on Kol. I love you, you wily troublemaker."

"I love you too Nik," Kol answered quieter as he pulled away and Caroline could've sworn there were tears in his eyes.

Elijah walked up to him next and placed his hand on Klaus' shoulder. "Stay safe, Niklaus. I don't know how I'd live without guiding my little brother to make better decisions. Send our regards to Freya."

Klaus hugged him firmly as he said he loved Elijah and Caroline knew from the look on Elijah's face that Klaus knew his brother loved him too. It was heart wrenching to watch Elijah mutter what might be his last words to Klaus in person before letting go of him.

Rebekah impressively ran up to Klaus in her emerald green mermaid dress and wasted no time crushing Klaus in her arms. "Nik please you can't leave! I can't be away from you again! Take me with you!"

"Rebekah," Klaus started with a smile as he hugged her back. "Soon enough you'll be scolding me on the phone for scaring Stefan Salvatore away from properly asking you to be his girlfriend. You'll hate me then but no matter what I'll always love you little sister."

"I love you too Nik!" Rebekah cried into his shoulder before pulling away and holding his hands. "I love you always and forever, Nik. Always and forever. I'd hold you here for hours if you didn't have a jet ready to fly away and a woman you love waiting to say goodbye." Rebekah motioned Caroline over and her heart began to race as she made her way over to him.

Caroline took a deep breath as the two of the stared into each other's eyes. "God, Klaus I–"

He smiled taking her hand, "now no tears alright Caroline? I'm already soaked enough from Kol and Miss Waterworks over here."

"I can hear you Nik, you bastard!" Rebekah yelled.

Klaus lowered his voice to a whisper and smirked at her as he stroked her cheek. "Now that she's mad I don't have to see her sad. It's much easier to leave an angry Rebekah than a crying one. But I don't think I could leave you if you started crying."

Caroline held his hand on her face, afraid if she let go he would be gone. This was her last chance. She needed to tell him she liked him now. "Klaus I need to tell you something. I–"

Before she could start Klaus embraced her like never before. It was different than when she hugged him. It felt deeper and more intimate making Caroline crave him even more. "Love, don't tell me. This way your words will be something I'll be looking forward to before I come back and claim you as my own."

"Klaus we're taking off in two minutes! Get in here!" Camille shouted from the top of the stairs before disappearing into the jet again.

No, no, no, this is all wrong! You have to tell him today or there could be–

Caroline was speechless as Klaus let go of her and gave her that charming smile that made her heart melt. Then he said those words that Caroline had unknowingly wanted to hear for a long time. They made her knees weak and her stomach fill with butterflies.

"I love you Caroline."

With no hesitation he placed a simple kiss on her cheek before giving a small wave goodbye to her and his family. Klaus was up the stairs and in the jet without a single look back.

No, no, no! This can't be happening Care! It's supposed to be the other way around! You can't let him get away with it! Caroline internally screamed at herself. He can't just leave you here all alone. You love him!

Right when she was about to launch herself at the receding stairs, someone grabbed her arm. She snapped her head back to see Elijah shaking his own. A silent way of saying don't do it. He was right. It was hard enough for Klaus to leave everyone behind without the girl he loved telling him she felt the same way.

Caroline felt tears running down her cheeks as Elijah's arm wrapped around her shoulders comfortingly. She held onto his other arm as the door shut. "I listened to the tape Caroline. I know you want to tell Niklaus, but it is safer for the both of you if you wait until this situation has been taken care of and he returns."

The clock struck twelve as the jet started down the runway leaving her as dumbfounded as Cinderella would be if her prince had left her with a kiss, three words and a diamond bracelet.


	21. Chapter 21

Here's chapter 21 guys! I hope you enjoy. Leave a like and a follow and a review! I love to hear what you think or what you might want to happen! Read on!

* * *

Caroline let out a squeak of joy as she hopped out of the piping hot shower. She closed her eyes and smiled feeling the warm rays of the sun on her face through the frosted glass. While wrapping herself in a white towel and twirling around in her and Kat's bathroom, Caroline planned out the day ahead of her. After brushing her pearly whites and blow drying her golden locks, she heard a ping from her phone. The notification was her calendar reminding her of two things. The start of her 24th birthday and official graduation from the stupid trainee assassin program. Caroline was supposed to graduate two years ago but due to emergency missions and empty threats from The Other Side through Tyler, Esther made her keep going. This time there was nothing. Tyler hadn't said anything in the last two weeks and she was sure there were no last minute missions. Today was so gonna be great, she almost couldn't believe it.

While Caroline applied her makeup and curled her hair, she remembered her last important birthday. Her 21st birthday. It wasn't like she didn't love her past three birthdays, Caroline's birthday was required to be all her friends' favourite day and it was her favourite day as well. Every year after her 21st she spent the morning and afternoon with her mom so that Elena and Bonnie could round everyone up for her party. Then they would party throughout the night and get a text from Klaus right before midnight.

Even though she had fun, the last important birthday was her 21st. Not because Tyler tried to kill her, but because she met Klaus that day. Caroline made her best efforts to keep in touch with him, but he couldn't do that much on his end. Marcel and Camille were convinced The Other Side had to be getting information on TVD from a phone or something. Klaus was constantly worrying that Mikael would find Caroline by bugging his phone so they barely called. Whenever they texted it was always cut short by Marcel calling him in for a meeting or a regular cell phone check. It was like this between him and Rebekah, him and Elijah and him and Kol so Caroline tried not to act like it bothered her.

Now all her friends knew about how she felt about him even though she didn't really talk about him unless she was super sad and needed to rant or she was blackout drunk. Caroline missed Klaus so much and didn't know how long she could get off with her fantasies about him and not the real thing. They all seemed okay and even embracive of her feelings except for Alaric and Matt. Ric didn't like him because he thought Klaus was the reason his last girlfriend died which Caroline could understand. But Matt? She really didn't know. Matt thought Klaus was dangerous, but everyone in this gig was dangerous. Caroline had gone on more missions than she could count. Though she hadn't killed anyone yet, Caroline had kicked a shit ton of ass. But Matt didn't really fit into that lifestyle. She, Stefan, and Rebekah had to help Matt get into the security portion of TVD so he didn't really have to kill anyone. Maybe that was why he still thought Klaus was the worst person on the Earth.

A Sam Smith song broke through her thoughts and she saw Katherine calling her. "Hey Kat! What's up?"

"Happy birthday honey," Katherine began on the other line. "How's the universe treating you on my favourite day of the year?"

"Thanks Katherine. I think it's treating me pretty good this year. No pesky threats from TOS and Esther hasn't called us to go on a long term or overnight mission since last week. I think I'll finally graduate this year!"

"Thank God. I could not deal with being responsible for your ass another year. It gets boring when you don't let me boss you around."

Caroline rolled her eyes and got up to get something other than a towel to wear. "Where are you? Did you stay over at Elijah's because I was surprised I didn't wake up to you two in the middle of the night."

Katherine groaned, "I had to wake up early to get Jeremy and Elena ready for today. Apparently grad's a special occasion and should be spent with family. He came to visit me though. Kissed this gigantic diamond he gave me."

Elijah proposed to Katherine almost a year ago on their official three year anniversary, though they had been messing around for way longer. The only reason they had been holding off the wedding was because Elijah wanted Freya to be there and Klaus as his best man though Katherine acted like she couldn't care less.

"Mikaelsons do like their diamonds alright," Caroline sighed, glancing at the diamond bracelet on her vanity counter.

"Yes they love giving away precious rocks to the ones they love. I think Jeremy got a huge silver plaque just with Kol's name on it." When Caroline didn't reply, Katherine reassured her. "Hey Care, don't worry. Wolfie will be back soon enough. I overheard Elijah talking on the phone. He said that there was something wrong with the mission Klaus is on and they'll be looking over it soon. See if they got something wrong."

Caroline's eyes caught the clock. Graduation started at 3:00pm and it was already 2:00pm. "Seriously? Oh my God I only have an hour left and getting into that second skin they call an assassin suit takes like thirty minutes. Tell Elena and Jer I say hi and can't wait for their gifts and make sure Bonnie gets Enzo there okay?"

Katherine said bye and Caroline rushed to put on a short dress and a jean jacket before running out of her building and towards the underground cell where her ex boyfriend lived.

…

"Tyler," Caroline said coldly as she let herself into the cell. It wasn't guarded by the Mikaelsons anymore because they had bled all the information they could out of him.

"Happy birthday Care," Tyler greeted her with a smug smile that sent shivers down her spine. "What do I owe the displeasure?"

"Cut the shit Tyler. You know why I'm here." Caroline needed to make sure that there were no empty threats or warnings today. All she, Elena, Jeremy and Matt wanted to do was graduate. Now that this year, graduation landed on her birthday, there was going to be zero tolerance for his bullshit. "Tell me what's going down today? What are you going to prophecy today? How do you want to ruin my life this year?"

Tyler snorted in annoyance, "I ruined your life? I think it's the other way around. You let that monster imprison me for life. I've given your cult of Mikaelsons all I know and all my motives. Now I'm being held here for no reason at all."

Yes, Tyler was no longer needed for information. He had told them all about the assassination attempt on Klaus and that Henrik was with Mikael, but he hadn't been to TOS. He didn't know their location or where Mikael went after the failed invasion because Tyler realized that he would be killed if Klaus found him and started hiding. That didn't mean that he wasn't still a threat. If he escaped, he would find Mikael and tell him what TVD had been doing. He was still dangerous.

"You manipulated and used me Tyler! You tried to end my life and left me with Klaus Mikaelson in the rainforest. I embarrassed myself trying to defend you and because of you, I constantly pushed Klaus away. When I finally realized that I wanted to be with the man who actually treated me like a human being, because of your organization, he left and I haven't seen Klaus in years."

"Don't act like you don't think he's been fucking a new girl every night since he's left. Maybe not even a different girl. Maybe it's Camille. I don't blame him for it seeing you've been whoring around with all the other guys while he's gone. I see the way Matt looks at you."

Caroline forced the tears back into her eyes and channeled her hurt into anger as she grabbed Tyler's chains and yanked him towards her. Klaus could do whatever he wanted. He could do _whoever_ he wanted. She didn't even tell him she liked him so he was free to move on. He moved on from Camille to Caroline so why couldn't he do the same thing to her? She had stayed up at night thinking about it but Tyler had no right to say it to her face. He had no right to tell her she'd been fucking Matt either. They were just friends, nothing else.

"I got the Mikaelsons to stop beating the truth out of you, don't make me take their place, Tyler. Now what are you going to say to Elijah or Rebekah or Esther to make them stop my graduation? You do it every year so why don't you just spit it out?"

"Nothing's going to interfere with your special graduation, Care. You'll complete the ceremony with no interruptions believe me. All the threats I've made in the past have been me messing with your head. Care I still have power over you and you know it. You fear me and what I can say to make Esther to put a stop to everything that is going on. For example, a group of 23 TOS assassins will invade TVD today and finally complete the first to take over your corrupt organization and it's hierarchy."

_That's not true. He's playing with you Care, and you know it. They won't hurt Klaus, he's lying. How would he even know this? The only people that see him are me, the Mikaelsons, Elena, Ric and Matt._

Caroline rolled her eyes, "seriously? We're the corrupt ones? Newsflash Tyler, your fellow TOS assassins get hired to kill as many people as we do. All you guys seem to do is terrorize the Mikaelsons because you listen to Mikael who by the way is an abusive kidnapper thinks he can do anything."

Deciding she had wasted enough time on Tyler and would tell Elijah about what he said just in case, Caroline got up to leave but stopped in her tracks when she heard Tyler's chilling words.

"What did you say?"

"You'd be the first step," Tyler repeated as if it was common knowledge. "Think about it Care. Last time we tried to kill Klaus, we didn't really have leverage on him. We could've used Henrik but Mikael wouldn't use the only son he really loved as leverage. But you? You're perfect. They could capture Klaus then capture you. If Klaus really loves you more than his own life like you says he does, then it will be easy to get rid of him. He gives himself up for your safety and then when he dies, Mikeal will kill you. Then the rest of the Mikaelsons will be vulnerable and easily plucked off one by one."

"If you're telling the truth, how could they invade New Orleans today to capture Klaus when they couldn't be sure they'd capture me? Mikael doesn't know me. He doesn't even know I exist. Klaus is making sure that–"

"Caroline it doesn't matter if he's making sure now. For this to go smoothly, this operation had to be in the works for years."

When Caroline didn't answer, Tyler laughed. "You should see the look on your face. If I still cared about what happens to you, I'd tell you not to go to your graduation or tell Esther about any of this. But what do I know? This is just another one of my worthless lies. No one could've told me anything in this little cell of mine. I think you should ignore all I said and go to your graduation. You deserve it, it's your birthday after all. My favourite day of the year."

...

A loud round of applause slapped Caroline back into reality. She had been thinking about what Tyler had said and completely forgot she was standing on a stage in the middle of a football field behind the training building. Hundreds of agents were on bleachers in the audience in front of her, clapping for some reason she had missed. Caroline told Elijah, Kol and Rebekah what Tyler had told her and he said that it was too late to shut down the event. She also mentioned that he warned her not to tell Esther and Elijah decided it was best to wait until after graduation so she didn't overreact. Rebekah suggested extra security at the gate and around the stage and bleachers, but something still didn't sit right with her.

The applause died down as Esther walked up to the podium centre stage. Her black dress trailed behind her and her toned leg flashed through the long slit with every step. She looked flawless as always and a small smile was on her lips. Caroline needed to tell Esther everything right after this. She would know what to do that would be best for Klaus. "Welcome agents. Thank you for being in attendance of our graduation ceremony this afternoon. Before we begin I'd like to offer a special thank you to all the mentors standing by their students. Your time and dedication to nurturing these agents into the best they could be for our organization will not go unrecognized."

Another round of applause started and was quickly quieted down with a wave of Esther's hand. "I'd also like to acknowledge these fine trainees on my right. They have shown the strength and stature to become official members of TVD. In my midst I can see medics, witches as my son likes to say, and assassins that are ready to use their full potential. Now let us begin. One by one, I will call on a trainee by their name and they will approach me with their mentor and I will shake your hand. We will do this until we've reached the last name."

_What's irking you Caroline? This is just another one of his threats on New Orleans. And Klaus. And this time you. Is that what I'm worried about? That it was specifically directed to me? Well it's definitely not about how specific Tyler's threat was because there have been ones that were much more specific. It's not that there isn't enough security around. All the guards that could be in the crowd were on the perimeter, Rebekah made sure of it._

"Care?" Elena asked from beside her, grabbing her hand comfortingly. "Are you okay?"

Elena must've caught her lost in thought so Caroline smiled. "What? I'm fine, Elena. Just… nervous."

"You? Miss Drama Major, Miss Lead Role in every school play and Miss Mystic Falls is nervous to walk across the stage? I don't buy it," Elena whispered. "Are you sure you're good?"

"She's fine, darling," Kol rolled his eyes from behind her. Kol seemed to hate Elena with a passion since he and Jeremy started dating. Probably because she didn't like that Kol was a horrible influence on her brother. She has to beg Elijah to get Jeremy to be a hunter or something so that he didn't go on any more missions with Kol. "Now are you going to focus on your ceremony instead of ruining everyone's fun like always? Or shall I stop wishing so hard?"

"When you put my brother's life in danger, yes I do. If you like him so much, why don't you even try to keep him safe?"

"He's been safe his whole life sweetheart, why waste another day being boring? And wonder why he's still breathing? I'm the only person who's keeping his body intact while Jeremy is finally living a little. "

Elena scoffed letting go of Caroline, "the only reason you two are still together is because I'm letting him be happy. Don't think for a second I actually trust you with my little brother."

"Katherine trusts me. You trust Katherine with Elijah. All that's coming out of your mouth is gibberish."

"Kat does not trust you. My twin sister doesn't even trust me! And gibberish? Says you Mr British accent."

"Some people find that quite charming. Evident with your best friend Caroline darling over here and my sweetheart Bonnie."

The two kept on arguing in hushed voices as Esther continued to call names of trainees that joined in the past three years. There were only about 25 of them which was a lot less than Caroline originally thought.

Caroline took the chance to return to her thought process and knew what was irking her. It was that Tyler said that Mikael knew her. Even though Caroline was a nobody. She wasn't known in the assassin world like Bonnie or even close to being known like Klaus. But with what Tyler was suggesting, he knew about her enough to know about her relationship with Klaus. How would he know that unless he was on the inside? New Orleans did think TOS was getting information from a phone tap, but Klaus had made sure his phone was never bugged or anything. Did he tell someone about her over the phone? _Okay that's a stretch Care._

"Elena, we're almost up," Alaric commented from behind her.

Her friend was obviously pissed off, but she ignored Kol and turned to Caroline. "If Kol is bothering you, tell me, okay?" Caroline nodded and sighed.

_I have to tell Esther she needs to hurry up the ceremony because I need to talk with her and all the Mikaelsons. And Bonnie because she knows about everything. She'll know how to keep us safe. And Damon too because Klaus had told her he knew about Werewolf Venom seeing he almost died from it. TOS used it on one of Marcel's Workers, so what would stop them from using it on her? They needed to call Klaus too._

Caroline felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Kol motioning to the podium. Elena and Alaric weren't beside them anymore. No one was on their right, they were next in line. "We're up, darling," Kol informed her, then sighed after seeing her face. "Are you still fretting those stupid threats made by that mutt? You shouldn't even be seeing him anymore. After this you must spend some time with your friends. No matter how twisted the events after this may be, have fun today? Alright?"

Kol was right, she'd been wanting this day to happen for three years. Now because of some shallow threat, she was all over the place. "Okay Kol, I'll try."

"Lovely," Kol grinned.

"Caroline Forbes," Esther called.

Caroline took a deep breath and put her chin up and gave the audience a pageant worthy smile. She walked up to Esther with Kol trailing close behind her. When they met, Esther outstretched her hand. Caroline took it and leaned into Esther's ear. "We need to talk once this is over. Tyler threatened TVD and Klaus." Esther nodded in reply and Caroline and Kol continued to the other side of the stage.

The rest of the ceremony seemed to zoom by because before she knew it, Caroline was on the grass with Stefan, Elena, Damon, Bonnie, Enzo, Matt and Alaric. "Guys can you believe it! We actually graduated this year! And it's on my birthday! It's like, basically perfect!"

"Basically?" Bonnie asked while raising an eyebrow.

"What? You missing your big bad wolfie friend?" Damon teased with his arm around Elena and she rolled her eyes.

"I am perfectly happy with you guys who are right here in front of me," Caroline beamed. "Group hug!"

Stefan shook his head, "I don't really hug."

"Don't be such a stick in the dirt mate," Enzo smirked and gave Caroline a friendly peck on her forehead before bringing in the hug. "We must respect our precious birthday girl's wishes."

Caroline did wish Klaus was there with her, holding her closely or brushing her hair out of her face with his calloused fingers. She wanted him to make stupid, dirty comments and call her beautiful and smile at her to show off those beautiful dimples. She missed Klaus. Now that Tyler said they might attack him, she was worried out of her mind for him too. At least for now, her friends were all safe.

"Caroline! Bonnie! Damon" Rebekah yelled from the top of the hill in front of them. "Sorry to break up the fuzzy display of affection down there but Esther needs to talk to you. I wouldn't keep her waiting if I were you."

...

Caroline stopped the recording of Tyler's confession before the embarrassing parts about her relationship with Klaus started and everyone in the room was quiet. They had all heard it before but this time it was different. Caroline had no idea how Tyler's threat from today could connect to his confession from years ago, but they needed anything to confirm this as a real danger. They being Esther, Elijah, Kol, Rebekah, Bonnie, Damon, Caroline and Silas on the phone.

"Well if we're going to sit around and look at this bloody tape recorder, it is not going to help Nik!" Rebekah shouted in frustration. "Call him again Caroline!"

"Hey Sexy Bex? Calm your tits," Damon rolled his eyes making Rebekah fume even more while nearly hissing at him.

"My brother could be captured and then our best friend could be as well. Tyler said my father would use Caroline as bait to murder him then kill her right after. How do you expect me to calm my tits? Imagine if it was Stefan."

Damon stayed quiet for a second before sighing. "What we need to do is find out if Tyler has any idea of what he is saying. Who he's seen and if there's a leak. Let's start with you Mommy Wolf. Is Tyler's cell locked every second of every day?"

"No," Esther said, clearly unamused, "it's not."

"Well when is it locked lady?"

"When Miss Forbes or the Mikaelsons wish to visit."

"How about when Tyler needs to eat? We both know that our little Care Bear is the only one who pities him enough to give him food," Damon turned to her and raised an eyebrow, "but you haven't been the only one feeding him."

Caroline shook her head, "I think Matt brings him food."

"So if I'm correct, the only people with access to Tyler's cell are Mommy Mikaelson, Mr. Noble Mikaelson, Kol the teenage boy, Klaus Barbie Number One, Klaus Barbie Number Two, and the busboy. Those are our candidates for who the mole is."

"I can say with confidence it is not any of my siblings or Caroline," Elijah commented.

Esther narrowed her eyes, "how can you be so sure that Miss Forbes hasn't been betraying us like I suspected from the beginning Elijah? Would you like to explain?"

"There's no need to explain. Just listen to the rest of the tape mother."

Caroline shook her head again. If they listened to the end of the recording, everyone would hear her embarrassing words about Klaus. "That's not necessary. I don't say anything about being in cahoots with Tyler on here, I swear."

"Just play the tape Care," Bonnie sighed. "For all of our sakes. The faster we get through this, the faster we can figure this whole issue out."

Reluctantly Caroline handed the tape to Elijah who smiled before pressing play. It continued from where they had previously stopped and she winced as she heard the conversation. Tyler was yelling at her, telling her she spread her legs for Klaus. At the time Caroline obviously didn't, but now she kind of wished she had. Masturbating to memories of him wouldn't even come close to masturbating to Klaus touching her, but that's besides the point. Now she was yelling at Tyler, telling him about how Klaus actually loved her. Soon enough it ended and Caroline's face was burning up.

"I have listened to this tape multiple times but even from the first hearing anyone could figure out that she cares for our brother. As you could most likely tell, Caroline is in love with Niklaus," Elijah stated, his eyes meeting hers for less than a second. They were smiling at her, assuring her it would be okay. "There is not the slightest chance she would conspire to harm him."

"Alright then that leaves Esther and Matt," Bonnie realized.

"There's no way it's Matt," Caroline noted. "He doesn't have the resources or the time to be plotting against Klaus."

"Or the balls," Damon added.

"He may not like Klaus but there is no way he could pull that off. So that leaves…"

Esther glared at them, "I would never work with the monster who stole my child."

"Then who is it?" Kol asked. "No one else visits the mutt."

Caroline bit her lip as the deafening silence took over Esther's office. She looked outside of the window. Maybe she was being paranoid. There was no leak. Tyler couldn't have gotten that information from a reliable source. It was all made up like the ones before. Then why do I feel like this?

Her eyes wandered the office before closing in defeat. Everyone looks either puzzled or completely over this dumb threat. Except for Silas of course. We can't see him but Esther seems to trust him so much. If he's the co-head of TVD, where is he when we need him? Well I mean other than with Esther on the phone every second of the day. Caroline's eyes shot open. She had remembered it before, why did it take her so long to put it together!

"Silas!" Caroline shouted, grabbing everyone's attention. "Oh my God it's fucking Silas! Esther give me that phone right now!"

"Miss Forbes–"

Caroline didn't waste anymore time. She grabbed the phone from the centre of the table and repeatedly smashed it on the edge of the hardwood. It eventually broke into two pieces and in the motherboard was a bug. Everyone in the room was completely speechless until Kol couldn't hold back his laugh. "Did you go into Tyler's cell with Silas?" Esther nodded slowly, her expression twisting into one of fear and realization. "When was the last time you saw Silas? Face to face."

"Five years ago. He was forced into hiding by The Other Side to protect his family."

"Katherine said that TOS was most likely getting all our information from a phone tap, right Elijah?" He nodded. "Esther you went down to Tyler with this phone, maybe left it there accidentally, and they spoke. By they, I mean Tyler and Mikael. Not Silas. Whoever this Silas person is, is either working with Mikael or is gone. Either way, he isn't the person you thought he was and now he knows all our secrets from who knows how far back."

"Bloody hell…" Rebekah groaned.

"What the fuck are we supposed to do now? How the fuck are we supposed to tell our brothers in New Orleans that we've leaked all our information to TOS when our only connection won't pick up his goddamn phone." Damon growled before turning to Bonnie. "Bonbon you gotta have something. How do we tell them they need to go on lockdown." Bonnie didn't answer immediately, her eyes were glued on the tape. "Bon?"

Bonnie turned to Elijah, "play that tape again. The part right after Care told Tyler she didn't love him."

"Of course," Elijah answered and rewinded the tape to the exact part Bonnie needed.

"–but I'm sure as hell I don't love you!"

"Kiss my ass Care! You think this is over? You think you can walk out of here and be free of me? Then you're blind. We have ears on the inside, we're closer to you than you think! You guys are looking in all the wrong places and when we strike, you won't know what hit you."

"We have ears on the inside?" Kol repeated, asking Bonnie if that was what she was looking for.

Bonnie shook her head, "we already know that much. Elijah go back to the part right after that." Elijah followed her orders and the recording began to play again.

"–side, we're closer to you than you think! You guys are looking in all the wrong places and when we strike, you won't know what hit you."

"Care what did Tyler say to you about capturing Klaus and using you to kill him? In his exact words please."

"He told me I was perfect for the operation. I remember him saying that the last time they tried to kill Klaus, they didn't really have any leverage on him. He said they could've used Henrik but Mikael wouldn't let them use Henrik because he was the only son he actually loved. But before all of that, Tyler said 'you'd be the first step.' He said it twice like I was supposed to know that–"

"Esther call New Orleans, Caroline call Klaus again."

"What is it–"

"You Caroline, you're the first step of the plan to take down TVD. He told us we're looking in all the wrong places. We put our best chance out of our reach and they knew we would because they've been listening to us! They're not coming for New Orleans, they're coming for you!"

A loud explosion sounded from outside and Caroline's eyes widened. Her friends were still out there!

"Fuck, Elena!" Damon yelled, rushing to the door.

"Stefan!" Rebekah gasped and followed Damon out.

"Enzo!" Bonnie shouted, right on Rebekah's tail.

"Jeremy," Kol remembered and was out of the door as fast as Elijah did after he whispered Katherine's name.

"Matt…" Caroline trailed off, looking at Esther who was shaking her head, warning her not to leave the room.

"Caroline you will not leave this room without protection–"

"I have to make sure he's safe." Caroline was out of the door and down the spiral staircase. She burst through the front door and ran like her life depended on it. After all it did. Her lungs felt like they were about to burst, but she wasn't planning on stopping until she was reunited with her friends.

While Caroline was sprinting towards the big hill she decided to call Klaus again. She dialled the number she knew by heart but all she heard was the tone. "Fuck–" Caroline was cut off by a hand over her mouth. She started struggling but stopped when she felt the cool metal of a gun pressed against her spine and the sharp blade of a knife against her neck. Shit, I'm not armed. God seriously? How could you be so stupid Care?

"Remember me Caroline?" A female voice asked harshly.

Caroline scoffed, "maybe if I could see you it would jog some memories. I obviously can't because you're holding me at gunpoint." The blade pressed further into her skin and Caroline squeaked before shaking her head. Maybe being snarky wasn't the best idea. "No I don't remember you, okay? I don't usually focus on voices!"

"Think harder! You don't remember when you and your fucking Mikaelson friends broke into our hotel and took Tyler? You fucked over our friend Daniel Warren and got your boyfriend to kill him!"

Fuck it's what's her face? Jules! Shit I totally fucked over Daniel Warren, but I didn't tell Klaus to kill him!

"Now it's your turn–" A gunshot cut Jules off and Caroline gasped, waiting for the pain, before realizing that there was none. The knife dropped to Caroline's feet and she whipped around to see Jules gagging on her own blood.

"That isn't how I remembered the story. What about you love?"

Her heart stopped at the voice that echoed through her ears. Caroline looked up and met his beautiful blue eyes and her heart nearly shattered at that dimpled smirk. "Klaus."

* * *

Klaus smiled at Caroline in all her glory. She wore the tight black assassin suit his mother required everyone to wear when they graduated. Her blonde curls bounced above her shoulders as she ran towards him and proceeded to give him the tightest hug he had ever experienced. Klaus stroked her hair and held her lower back while she stayed silently squeezing him. The feeling of having Caroline back in his arms was indescribably incredible. She was so beautiful and it had been so long since he had seen her face. "Hello to you too Caroline."

As if something flipped a switch in her brain, Caroline jumped off of him to compose herself. "Hi. I didn't expect you to be here at all. I thought you were in New Orleans with Marcel and Camille and Tyler was saying that The Other Side was coming for you. But he actually meant that they were coming for me to use as bait for you so they could lure you in and kill you. I was so worried, we were trying to warn you. I was trying to warn you, I thought they were going to take me to watch you die–"

"You're rambling love," he laughed.

"Oh, sorry."

"You look stunning in uniform love," Klaus commented as he moved closer to her, desperate to feel her again.

Caroline's breath hitched as Klaus' fingers slightly brushed on her sides. She was clearly uneasy and still shocked at his being here. "I bet you say that to all the girls back in New Orleans."

"You bet wrong," Klaus smirked as he cupped her cheek. She still had the faint white line on her cheekbone from Tyler throwing a glass at her. The thought of Tyler almost made him scowl. It still angered him that Lockwood had stolen his brother and given him to Mikael even after Klaus had confided in him. Klaus had spent the past three years looking for Mikael and Henrik with Camille, his elder sister Freya, King of the French Quarter Marcel and newly crowned Queen of the Wolves Hayley.

Freya was family, Klaus was obligated to inform her about Henrik though she had a painfully different experience with Mikael. Freya loved Mikael as her father and Mikael loved Freya as his daughter. They had a loving relationship until Esther sold her to Dahlia. She almost didn't believe Klaus until Marcel confirmed his story.

Marcel was always at Klaus' side and already knew of Henrik's disappearance and wasn't too shocked when Klaus told him Mikael was behind it. He knew how horrible he could be.

Then there was Hayley. She herself was an orphan and confessed to Klaus that at times she thought that anyone who hated their parents were ungrateful and that she had never thought that there could be awful reasons behind their hatred. They were all now working together along with his other allies, Vincent Griffith the genius, Davina Claire the unexpectedly powerful brat, Marcel's newly wedded wife Eva Sinclair, Joshua Rosza the awkward intern type and Jackson Kenner Hayley's husband and the father of her unborn child. Everyone in TVD submitted to his power and Klaus flawlessly became king once again, but it wasn't the same as before.

Unlike everyone in the French Quarter had thought, Klaus was unsure of continuing his reign unless a certain blonde agreed to join him. When Klaus was last in New Orleans, he had his right hand man Marcel at his side, countless allies willing to blindly serve him and Camille, the woman he loved. Now he only had two out of three of those. Camille was still with him but now she was merely a friend. They were no longer in love for Cami had seemed to have taken a new interest in Vincent and Klaus had fallen for Caroline. His mind never strayed from her once even though Klaus had the constant fear that Caroline hadn't done the same. There was no way he would live in New Orleans without her. On top of that, he was obligated to make sure Tyler was taken care of once and for all, his family was reunited and Mikael was a corpse.

"Is Tyler still in the cell?" Klaus asked and Caroline shrugged.

"I don't know, they might've broken him out and even if they haven't, Klaus that cell doesn't do anything. Tyler knew everything Klaus, he chose to stay in that cell so he could get information and give it to Mikael! Speaking of Mikael, do you know Mikael is Silas? Or Silas is Mikael? I don't know the order but it was super creepy and I figured it out! I was the one who–" Klaus playfully raised an eyebrow and she shut her mouth. "I'm rambling, I know but I'm not used to you being right here in front of me."

Klaus' eyes softened, "I know, but there's no time to catch up now love. I'd like nothing more to stay and chat but I have to wreak havoc on the rest of my Hybrid traitors. You need to get to safety."

Caroline furrowed her brows and stepped away from Klaus, "no. I have to fight these agents off or make sure Tyler is not going anywhere. I'm not going to sit around and do nothing."

"The Other Side assassins are very dangerous. Jules had nearly slit your throat before I luckily intervened. Jules might be one down, but twenty two more assassins are still searching for you and I intend to kill every single one of them, but I cannot do that if I don't know you're out of harm's way."

"Remember the last time you thought something was too dangerous for me and I proved you wrong? That was when I beat up your Hybrid three years ago and I barely had any training! Thirty minutes ago I just graduated after two extra years of learning how to kill people, I'm coming with you."

A smile tugged the corners of his lips as he watched Caroline try to stand her ground. "Your bravery is flattering but you must go back to the main building and hide. I'm sure my siblings will be there as well on orders from my mother. They are not cowards for hiding, they are being wise. All our assassins know to go on lockdown and I expect you to do what's best for your safety."

"Klaus, I'm not going to go hide when I'm the reason they're here. What good am I going to be if I lead then to my friends? I'm worried about them, I'm worried about you. How are you going to single handedly fight off twenty two assassins? I can't sit back and watch you get hurt. I just got you back, I can't lose you."

"I won't be fighting by myself and I don't have to kill all of their agents. If I do, I have reasons to believe that they'll be sending my Hybrids to finish the job. At the moment, I have my people, who are already destroying the competition. This won't take too long. I'll meet you in less than fifteen minutes, love."

Caroline bit her lip indecisively and the small action nearly made him groan. "Are you sure? Promise me you'll come right back to us? Us as in me and your family."

"I will return to _you_. I give you my word, Caroline. Now go." Caroline nodded and hesitantly ran off in the direction of the main building of TVD. Klaus watched her go and almost regretted telling her to leave. Now more than ever before, he wanted her. Klaus wanted to claim Caroline in every way humanly possible, but first he had to deal with The Other Side.

"Who is that?" His best friend asked with an audible smirk from behind him.

"Marcel, that was Caroline Forbes. The Other Side is after her to get to me because I'm in love with her. How many have we taken down?"

Klaus turned to see Marcel shaking his head with a gun in hand. "Freya got four, Camille got three, I got three and Hayley got two. I see you took care of this lady on the floor so that brings our total to thirteen. The good news is that we're over half. Bad news is that Cami checked the cell and Lockwood's gone."

"The Hybrids," Klaus muttered under his breath. One of them probably snuck into the building to free him on Mikael's behalf. "How's Hayley?"

"She's fine," Hayley answered from beside Klaus with a male body dragging behind her. "Other than the fact that she just snapped this man's neck because he called her hormonal. I'm not sure if it was because he was right or wrong."

Klaus put his hand on her baby bump and grinned as the baby kicked. Though Hayley and Klaus had a very strained relationship at first, seeing she nearly shot the love of his life, they grew closer over the years. After she and Jackson finally got pregnant, he was elated and failed to hide his excitement seeing he would soon be the most fun adult in her child's life. "How's the little Niklaus? Kicking ass just like mommy dearest?"

"The little Niklaus is a little _Nicki_ and _she_ is mad that I'm not at home relaxing with her daddy," Hayley growled, dropping the body and picking up it's gun. "How many more agents are there?"

"Eight more to go if Freya and Camille haven't killed anymore of them," Marcel replied.

"Where's your little princess, Klaus?" Hayley smiled sarcastically as her green eyes gleamed, "did you have a romantic reunion? Did you finally kiss her or is she still rejecting your ass?"

"She's safe," Klaus shrugged, ignoring the rest of Hayley's questions, "but all we need to worry about now is destroying those pests from The Other Side."

...

Klaus silently slid into the metal crate room that had a hidden passageway that lead to the underground chambers. He was relying on Caroline's knowledge from training to get her to safety. His blood stained henley was slightly unbuttoned and Klaus guessed his hair was wonderfully a mess. Klaus ended up obliterating the remaining eight agents. He killed a few with his bare hands when they said something about Caroline. She was his and he wouldn't stand by and let them slander her name without being punished. Now it was guaranteed the Hybrids would be back.

Hayley and Marcel were a little ways behind him while Freya and Cami were taking another route that led directly to the Mikaelsons' safe room. Klaus wanted to take the passageway that Caroline went through incase something had happened. He couldn't lose her again. The three wove through the metal crates of various sizes so quietly, you could hear a pin drop. His hand was resting on the gun in his jacket pocket to be ready for an ambush. Though all of The Other Side's agents were scattered around dead, his Hybrids could already be on their way to seize both him and Caroline.

The three assassins were nearly at the trap door before Klaus paused and put his hand out behind him, signalling Hayley and Marcel to stop. Something had clattered on the metal floor behind a crate and familiar voice let out a quiet curse under her breath which nearly made Klaus chuckle. He'd recognize Caroline's voice anywhere. He moved slightly and could see her back facing him. She was scrambling for her gun that she had dropped.

Swiftly and silently, Klaus came up behind her and put his hand over her mouth before she could scream. "Shh, shh, shh, it's just me love. Don't be scared, you're safe."

Caroline whipped around and let out a sigh of relief before hugging him. Klaus heard another noise from behind Caroline and got ready to protect her. It was possible but he doubted the Hybrids would be here this early. "Oh God Klaus I thought you were some creepy TOS agent coming to take me–" Caroline was cut off when Klaus abruptly pulled out his gun and pointed it towards the man he had just noticed behind the metal crate. The male's hands shot up and Klaus pushed Caroline behind him.

He wasn't a Hybrid but was oddly familiar. Perhaps he had ran into him in a fight before. "I thought I had killed you all," Klaus growled but before he could shoot, Caroline had jumped in front of him.

"No Klaus! He isn't an assassin, he's with me." Caroline took the man's hand and he held her close as if he was the one protecting her. Their entire upper bodies were glued together. Klaus felt his blood boiling at the sight of the two so close. Now that he was back Caroline was his and his only once he got her to get rid of that parasite Tyler Lockwood which wouldn't be a challenge seeing that Tyler had been a big part of having her kidnapped. No man other than him should've been embracing her that way.

"This is Lorenzo St. John. Enzo. Remember? He works with TVD. He runs the Armoury, you can't hurt him."

The way she was protecting him made Klaus want to tear Enzo's heart out even more than the TOS assassins, but because of the pleading in her eyes he reluctantly lowered his gun. He vaguely recalled briefly speaking to him at his goodbye ball three years prior to this. The man exhaled and so did Caroline, but they didn't let go of each other. Klaus was about to rip Caroline away from Enzo's grasp before Marcel and Hayley arrived, weapons drawn.

"What's going on here Klaus? Are you hurt?" Marcel asked before locking eyes with Caroline who looked just as confused as Marcel. The two hadn't met before, but Caroline and Hayley on the other hand…

"Marcellus meet Caroline, you've heard much about her," Klaus introduced. "Caroline meet my right hand man Marcel, which I've informed you about prior to my leaving. Hayley, Caroline are already well acquainted I'm sure."

As Klaus watched Marcel shake hands with Caroline awkwardly, Hayley groaned from behind him. Klaus immediately put his hand on her bump, worried about the baby's safety. Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to bring Hayley with them. Jackson would go ballistic if she went into labour here of all places. "Hayley?" Klaus asked, holding her up cautiously. "How is she? Is she alright? _Is she coming_?"

"What the fuck is she doing here, Klaus? How do you know she's not here to save Tyler." Caroline scoffed, before her eyes landed on Hayley's abdomen, wide with disbelief. "Is she pregnant?!"

Hayley threw Klaus off of her in annoyance, whispering she was fine. "What does it look like blondie? And I'm not here to save Tyler."

"So first you're going to sleep with my boyfriend then get pregnant with Klaus' child?!"

This was a disaster. Caroline was impulsively making assumptions that couldn't be further from the truth.

"Look it's been years since Tyler and I were together. Today I came here, risking my life and my baby's life to protect you so your long distance boyfriend's wouldn't be paranoid out of his mind. You're lucky enough I care about Klaus enough to save both of your lives from your ex's little scheme! Get over yourself princess, nobody cares!"

"Klaus isn't my boyfriend," Caroline muttered under her breath.

"Then why are you jealous?" Hayley growled, "you can't have them all sweetheart. Grow up and pick one."

There was an earsplitting silence throughout the room that seemed to last forever. Caroline was glaring at Hayley who was glaring back at her with just as much intensity. Hayley was not pregnant with his child, but even if she was there was no reason for Caroline to be jealous. Not with her new arm candy Enzo.

Marcel cleared his throat and announced he was taking Hayley to the safe room to meet up with Freya and Camille so she could rest. Klaus nodded and as his two comrades disappeared, Enzo put his arm around Caroline to lead her into the passageway. Klaus didn't let him go two steps before grabbing his arm. "Let her go," Klaus ordered in a low voice.

"You think I'm going to hurt her?" He questioned in a challenging tone.

"I certainly do not trust you with her. She has a very poor taste in the ones who she keeps close to her. They're always a danger to her wellbeing."

"I was the one comforting her every night when you were gone and refused to answer the phone. When the anxiety of you being gone was too much to bear. You're the only one hurting her Klaus Mikaelson and if you do it again, you'll have more than your relationship dramatics to worry about."

"Enzo…" Caroline sighed as she watched him leave through the trap door, leaving her alone with Klaus.

Klaus knew he was right. It wasn't his fault that he was unable to contact Caroline at all times but maybe he should've never left. He should've listened to her. The Other Side was coming for Virginia anyways. His leave did nothing but strain his relationship with Caroline. "He's right."

Caroline shook her head, "how could you Klaus? You got Hayley pregnant?! You were there when I found out she was sleeping with Tyler. You saw my heart break first hand. Now I know she was sleeping with you too!"

"And if I am sleeping with her, what of it?" Klaus challenged.

"'What of it?' When you left me on the plane tarmac, your last words were that you loved me! I know it's been three years and things change over time and I know I'm being selfish, but I thought you meant it. You may not love me but you don't have to sleep with the girl who ruined my life!"

"I do love you! But that obviously didn't matter much to you, seeing you have a new boyfriend now," Klaus hissed in pain. "It didn't take you long to move on from Tyler Lockwood. Have a newfound knack for accents hm? You seem like the perfect pair."

"Well at least he didn't get my mortal enemy pregnant!"

"Neither did I!" Klaus yelled making Caroline flinch. He sighed as she looked away from him, seeing her upset was the last thing he wanted. Klaus carefully put his hands on her waist. "The baby isn't mine, it's Hayley's husband's. I never slept with her, love."

"Oh," Caroline whispered. "She's married… She has moved on from Tyler and is not out to get me. I feel really dumb right now. Enzo is Bonnie's boyfriend. Not mine. We're just friends."

Klaus let out a breath that he didn't realize he was holding. Though that meant she was still with Tyler, it was reassuring that he didn't have to compete with a decent man. He held her chin and gently tilted her head up to him. "Positive?"

She nodded, "it's our first day back together and we're already arguing, Klaus. I hate fighting with you. I almost lost you and I don't want to push you away because I'm–"

Cutting her off, Klaus hugged Caroline, "I know love, I know. You'll never lose me. I won't leave your side as long as you'll have me. I still fancy you more than you can fathom."

"I know, thank you." And maybe it was Klaus' imagination, but he could've sworn he heard her reply, "I feel the same way."


	22. Chapter 22

Hey guys, thanks for reading this chapter! Make sure to leave a review below to tell me what you think. I really appreciate it!

* * *

Caroline sighed as she stood alone in the middle of the football field. Though it was now nighttime, the LED football lights shone brighter than the sun. It had been a very eventful birthday for Caroline, just like the one three years ago. Only this time she was older and more experienced and she promised herself not to cry.

Tyler was gone. Most likely broken out of his cell by one of Klaus' Hybrids. She was scared for both Tyler and TVD. Yes, Tyler was a horrible person but it's almost impossible for someone to change that much. A part of her will always want the case to be that Tyler was being forced into what he was doing, but his words told her otherwise. The person she knew was gone for good, or even worse, he was never there. To add to everything that was happening, all the TVD agents were scared and in lockdown. If word that a dangerous TOS agent had escaped got out, that could cause even more chaos.

As for Caroline personally, she had no idea what to feel. All the TOS assassins that had come to capture her were dead and the bodies were taken care of, but that didn't make her feel any better. In fact, it made her feel worse. Twenty three people had lost their lives trying to kidnap her. There was so much Caroline could've done, so much she should've done. If she had tried harder to convince Klaus to let her help. Maybe then she might have convinced him to not focus on his anger and spare some lives. Though The Other Side assassins that were supposed to take her were dead, Esther ordered that Caroline had to be looked after 24/7, seeing that she was the target of the invasion. She wanted to argue, but Esther was in charge. Caroline knew that Esther wasn't doing this for her safety, but rather for her son's. She thought staying was putting everyone including Klaus in danger, but she couldn't just get up and leave. There were guards everywhere and Klaus jumped at the chance to be with her every second of every day. There was no way Caroline was getting past him.

At least the lockdown had lightened up for now. Esther said that it was okay for everyone to go back to their rooms, but no one was to leave TVD under any circumstances. That included the assassins from New Orleans. That meant both Camille and Hayley were there to stay. Camille would be clinging onto Klaus now that was required to stay with Caroline and Hayley had a baby that Klaus had grown close to.

Klaus seemed to have formed such a close relationship with Hayley and her baby that when he and Freya reunited with their other family members, he had introduced Hayley and her child. Caroline knew she shouldn't be jealous, but Klaus had just come back. It was horrible because she just felt like doing everything Camille did when she was reunited with Klaus. She had dreamed of the day for years but it was nothing like she had hoped. There were assassins led by his father and her ex boyfriend coming after them. Coming to _kill_ them. She was even more scared than she was on her last eventful birthday where she was separated from Tyler and stuck with a murderer. Now Caroline had fallen for that murderer and was not scared for her life, but his.

Caroline smoothed down her multicoloured pencil dress as she looked at the bleachers TVD members were sitting on just a few hours ago. Klaus had left her a note to meet him there at nightfall because he needed to spend some time with his family before they could be alone. She felt like a schoolgirl who was crushing hard on a boy for the first time. It was exciting to finally have a proper conversation with Klaus but also stressful because Caroline wanted to tell him that she liked him too.

Footsteps from behind her almost made Caroline whip around in excitement but she held herself back and turned slowly. Of course it was Klaus in all his glory and Caroline wasn't in any way complaining. He was wearing a suit with a pale blue tie. Klaus was perfect and she couldn't help but smile.

Déjà Vu washed over her completely as she admired Klaus. Caroline remembered the night of the dinner party with Esther and the nightmare that accompanied it. The fact that Klaus had been away for some time and even the note to meet him. The lights, the field, _him_. Everything was exactly the same, except the cold and dreadful feeling she had, wasn't there. _She felt safe._ Caroline felt completely safe.

"How did you get here so fast?" She asked in regards to the invasion as Klaus continued towards her.

"I was already on my way," he confessed with his hands behind his back and a smile on his lips. When Caroline cocked her head and raised her eyebrows in curiosity, he explained. "Freya and I figured out that Marcel's daywalker couldn't have revealed the coordinates of TVD, New Orleans while injected with Werewolf Venom, but could've leaked Virginia's long before you began to call. Even before that I planned on being here after receiving your virtual graduation announcement. Very Subtle, might I say."

Caroline mentally facepalmed in embarrassment, failing to hold back her smile as she remembered her one hundred word text message in all caps explaining how she was finally graduating this year. She thought he didn't read it.

"Besides, it's not everyday that your graduation lands on your birthday."

Her heart fluttered hearing his sentence. Caroline always sent him happy birthday messages on his birthday and he did the same, but her insecurities always told her it was just an alarm he had set on his phone. "You remembered…"

"How could I forget? That's the day you entered my world and singlehanded began to change my outlook on life itself. Such a character's birthday lest be forgotten." Before Caroline could say something, Klaus cut her off with a knowing smile. "So I assume you're expecting cash?"

A small laugh left her lips, "that or a mini fridge."

"I considered giving you a first class ticket to join me in New Orleans once this situation has been dealt with," Klaus told her.

Caroline's smile fell. Go to New Orleans? It would be impossible for her to leave all her friends and her mom. This was Caroline's lifestyle now. TVD Virginia was her home and she still had so much she was doing. The childcare centre was nearly finished and she and Elijah were nearly ready to begin hiring. Caroline couldn't leave now.

Klaus must've seen her face drop because he folded his hands behind him back and rocked on the balls of his feet like he did when he was nervous or anxious. "But I knew what your answer would be. Elijah informed me about the progress on your project based on Henrik and I didn't expect you to pick up your things and leave with me. Especially with your family all here. So I opted for something you would accept. Tyler is free to live his life after we've dealt with TOS."

"What?" Caroline gasped, not trying to mask her surprise. Tyler was a danger to TVD. To his family, to her family. Why would he let him go now?

"Freya found footage of Tyler's escape. He was nonetheless surprised when one of my Hybrids told him they would be killing you after your capture."

"But he was the one who–"

"I know, Elijah told me about your meetup with him today. We believe he was only bluffing or trying to rile you up. Either way, my family and I rendered it useless to hold Tyler against his will once we defeat Mikael and take back Henrik. The Other Side is already aware of our locations and if Mikael is dead then The Other Side has lost it's grudge against us. Keeping Tyler imprisoned would only give The Other Side yet another reason to come for my family."

Caroline searched his eyes for sarcasm. His point was logically correct, but Caroline thought that he wanted nothing more to kill Tyler. After all the shit he put the Mikaelsons through, even though Caroline didn't like the idea of it, Tyler deserved Klaus' wrath. The gift would've been exactly what she wanted when Tyler was first imprisoned, but Klaus still didn't know they had broken up. All she wanted was what was right in front of her.

Literally.

Klaus' blue eyes sparkled with a little bit of mischief along with some pride, most likely because he left her speechless. "He was your first love. I intend to be your last. However long it takes."

Now Caroline was really speechless and swore her voice had left for good as she felt a strange wave of déjà vu washed over her. Klaus leaned in and placed a simple kiss on the corner of her lips. Her heart leaped and as he pulled away, she gave him a toothy grin and a giggle.

Caroline took his offered arm as he smiled back at her. "Congratulations Caroline. Let's get out of here before twelve angry Hybrids decide to pick a fight."

...

"Hey Klaus?" Caroline called out quietly from the edge of Klaus' king size bed. It was nearing midnight and the two of them had been hanging out in Klaus' room for hours. Watching old films that Klaus claimed were cinematic excellence and criticizing DIY videos that Caroline put on.

The two had sipped champagne and caught up with each other. He told her stories of the wonders of New Orleans. Caroline learned more about Freya and couldn't wait to officially meet her. She had a girlfriend back in New Orleans that she planned on proposing to and Caroline hoped they could get close enough to go. Klaus also let her know that Camille no longer had feelings for him, so Caroline didn't need to be jealous. She learned about Hayley and Jackson and their baby on the way. Though it was kind of cute how Klaus was so intrigued about a baby, Caroline was still a bit jealous of the way he cared. Which was stupid, because they weren't even together. She remembered when Klaus told her he wasn't too sure on being a father because of his fear of becoming Mikael. Maybe Hayley's experience may change that. He also told her about the food, the music and all his friends that sounded like such interesting characters.

She let him in on all of the progress she had on Henrik and the children's facility. Klaus enjoyed hearing her funny stories about Kol and how Katherine and Elijah got engaged. She informed him about Rebekah and Stefan's relationship growth and development. How Rebekah was ready for children and Stefan was still unsure if he should stay the night. Caroline told him all about her craziest missions and how she'd get caught or captured and always ended up kicking the bad guys' ass, but never even got close to killing them. Klaus asked if she still wanted to be a back catcher. Caroline admitted that she outgrew the wish of being a back catcher. She hadn't had to kill anyone yet and she enjoyed the action and the adrenaline.

Caroline was super restless in all those long hours. She kept moving around to try to take her mind away from Klaus. Their chemistry was still undeniably there, but now it was harder for her to concentrate on anything but him. Caroline's heart was hammering against her ribcage whenever their eyes met. Her heart leaped whenever he smiled at her and completely stopped when he laughed or made a comment about his feelings towards her. All she wanted to do was tell him she felt the same.

"Yes love?" Klaus answered absently from the sofa across the room. His eyes were still on the flat screen TV that was playing 'The Scent Of A Woman,' but Caroline could tell he was listening from the sparkle of curiosity in his eyes. Her eyes gazed upon his features that she hadn't seen in ages. It was still unbelievable that Klaus was in Virginia. That he was with her. That he hadn't moved on from Caroline. She had thought she would end up like Camille. In love, but unwanted.

"What if I wasn't in love with my first love anymore?"

Klaus raised an eyebrow and muted the volume of the movie, "what do you mean love? Are you saying what I believe you're saying?"

"Maybe it's the champagne saying it…" Caroline whispered unsurely. There was no reason for her to be nervous. He loved her. But what if he only loved her because she was a challenge? What if once Caroline confessed, Klaus would get tired of her? He could go back to his old, loveless life of sleeping with hookers. This could be the biggest mistake in her life, but Caroline needed him. She couldn't have him go back to New Orleans without trying.

"You no longer love Tyler Lockwood?" Klaus questioned.

"I'll always love him. I've known Tyler for years and I'll never forget how he's been there for me, but I'm not in love with him. After the lies, the names, the abuse and all he's done to your family. To you? I can't ever completely hate him, but I'll never be _in_ love with him again. The truth is, I haven't been for a long time. I broke up with Tyler the afternoon of the goodbye ball."

Klaus got up with a smile and kneeled before the edge of his bed, "I cannot say I'm sorry to hear the news Caroline. I am in fact overjoyed that he is no longer hurting you. Though I am sorry that I didn't allow you to share the news on the tarmac before I departed, I did say I wanted something to look forward to once I returned. It was worth the wait."

"That wasn't what I wanted to tell you on the tarmac Klaus."

"Well do share Caroline," Klaus grinned, "you've caught my interest."

Caroline cleared her throat, "remember when we were out in the Amazon and we did those mini word lessons? Well let's do it now. It's my turn by the way."

Klaus chuckled and nodded while brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Caroline nearly gasped at the contact, his thumb lingering on the place he had kissed her earlier. "Go ahead love."

"Okay my word is love," Caroline started. "L-O-V-E. Love is an intense feeling of deep affection as a noun, but as a verb is to feel a deep romantic or sexual attraction to someone. Love is sweet and pure and gentle. It makes you feel cared for and meaningful. It wraps you up, makes you smile like crazy and gives you the best and worst butterflies in your stomach. You feel like everything is seen through pink tinted glasses. But love is also painful and dangerous. It makes you insanely possessive which is awful. You can be blinded with anger in one moment and drowning in utter regret the next. It hurts like hell, but you also feel like you're on cloud nine when you're with that special person you're in love with. When you're with them, you never want to leave. You're thinking of them so you get tongue tied and say the wrong things even if you talk a lot like me. When you're not with them, they're the only thing on your mind and you want nothing more than to be with them. Being in their arms makes you feel like the luckiest and happiest person on Earth and even the thought of kissing them could make you melt. There are no limits to the affection you feel towards them. You do stupid things so they're happy. It's intense and passionate and messy and imperfect. All you want in life is to be with them forever."

Klaus reached out to cup her face, but Caroline stopped him and held his hand to her heart. "Sweetheart…"

"I'm not done, so shut up," Caroline interrupted with a small nervous smile. "Don't say anything, just listen."

This was it. There was no going back after this.

"So last but not least, here's my sentence. I… love you! I am in love with you Klaus! I am so sunshine and rainbows, pink tinted glasses, butterflies, jealously, tongue tied-ly, passionately and completely in love with you. I am all of it, I feel all of the above when I'm with you Klaus. When we were in the Amazon, training, fighting, on a mission, arguing, making up, I felt it all. And I don't care what people think, I don't care about Camille or Hayley or Tyler or Matt or even Esther! All I want is to be with you! Nothing will ever change that. No matter who comes in our way, or wherever Esther sends you, no matter what you do, I always will love you Niklaus Mikaelson."

"Are you positive Caroline? Because if so, there is no escaping it. You'll remain with me and my psychotic family and my murderous mother, I'll make sure of it. Though you have my word I'll protect you with my life, all those who oppose me will attempt to come after you."

"It wouldn't be anything unfamiliar to me," Caroline chuckled and locked her eyes with his. "Klaus, I swear I'm not bullshitting. I want to be with you. I don't care if Esther doesn't like me or wants to kill me because of it. I don't care if your enemies come after me, mostly because they are already after me, but that's beside the point. I love Rebekah and Elijah and Kol and I can't imagine my life without them. As for Freya and Henrik, I'll be sure to connect with them without your biases about Mikaelsons distracting me. I spent a spent three miserable years without you so believe me when I say I don't want to live a life without you in it. Don't believe me?"

After what seemed like an eternity of silent eye contact between the two of them, a laugh escaped Klaus' lips as he wiped a tear rolling down Caroline's cheek. "Caroline love, you were supposed to say one sentence."

Caroline joined him and let out a half sob half laugh, realizing everything she had just said. "I guess that was a little more than a sentence, huh?"

Klaus shook his head with an ear to ear grin as she got rid of the space between them. Their lips crashed together in harmony and pent up passion. Caroline held his face while threading her other hand in his hair. His lips felt way better than she had ever imagined. She got more lost in them with every movement. No wonder everyone wanted to have sex with him. The kiss was the fireworks she had expected when she reunited with Tyler, but tenfold.

Caroline felt Klaus pulling away for air and whimpered in protest. Being able to breathe was the last thing she needed. He broke the kiss and Caroline held him close, afraid he would disappear. He held her hand on his face and looked up at her in disbelief. Like he never thought this day would come. Like he never thought she would ever even think of reciprocating his feelings. "Klaus?"

"Caroline you have no clue in the slightest how long I've had those words from your lips haunt my dreams. You know not how long I've longed to kiss you. Love you need to know once you've let me have you, I have no intentions of letting you go Caroline. I'm overprotective and possessive. You'll be mine and I do not share."

"When you realize Klaus that I've been yours since you save me from that stupid jeep you blew up?" Caroline laughed as Klaus stood up and pulled her into another kiss. She slung her arms around his neck as his right arm wrapped around her waist and his left held her face gently.

He broke the kiss again and simply smiled at her. He stroked her cheek gently, "now I am very glad I stopped you on the tarmac. My mother would most definitely have your head if she saw us in action. And I would have never given New Orleans a second thought."

"What if she walked in right now? I doubt she'll be sleeping tonight and it would be mortifying to be caught like this."

"You're right but I thought we didn't care about what my mother thought." Caroline rolled her eyes and Klaus continued to attack her lips with his before asking Caroline something between short kisses. "I am guessing you would like another gift for your special day now that Lockwood is out of the picture. I'll take you to see the wonders of the world, I'll give you the world, Caroline. All you have to do is ask."

"I might have to take you up on your offer once all of our friends are safe and we're not in lockdown or fighting your evil father who has your brother held captive. But for now, all I want is you."

"Very well then. Happy birthday love," Klaus smiled as he pulled away. "I love you. Always and forever."

* * *

"Bloody hell Nik," Klaus heard Kol exclaim as he walked in from the bathroom, buttoning his pair of dark jeans up. The lights turned on in his room when Kol's eyes rested on Caroline under the sheets in bed. "You didn't waste any time, did you?"

Klaus rolled his eyes while Rebekah gasped and squeezed in the doorway beside his brother, "Kol you bastard, are you fucking with me? There is no way in hell! Believe me I had not in the slightest idea Caroline missed you that much, brother. If so I would've gotten mother to tie you two together after the first year you were gone."

He gave them a small but victorious smile as he sat beside his sleeping lover. Klaus brushed the hair out of her face. Caroline was looked even more angelic now she was his and his only. The night before had been beyond incredible. No, they did not sleep together, Caroline was much too excited to cuddle in bed while making him watch chick flicks and Esther was angrily roaming the halls until Caroline fell asleep, but Klaus longed for nothing more than Caroline's confession of her love. At least not as of now. "We did not, if that is what you're implying. Something much better."

"Really Niklaus?" Kol sighed in disappointment, "I should've known better. How long will you let our beautiful Caroline string you along? And what's better than sex, hmm?" Kol inquired. "Other than video games and Jeremy Gilbert?"

Rebekah rolled her eyes at Kol and walked in to stand beside Klaus. "Kol if you say that little wench's brother's name again, I swear I will rip out your tongue. Enough of you already. Let Nik explain himself. What happened?"

"She loves me," Klaus started without lifting his gaze from Caroline, "last night she told me she was in love with me. Not Tyler Lockwood, or that bore Matt Donovan, or anyone else. Caroline is mine at last and she doesn't intend on leaving anytime soon."

"Congratulations Nik," Kol smiled, "she stated the obvious. The rest of the family have known since the day you left. What would you like? A trophy? Perhaps a medal will do. A medal for being the biggest dumbass on the planet?"

"Shut it Kol," Rebekah growled before she gave Klaus a big hug and a proud smile. "Get the stick out of your arse and be happy for our brother who just arrived being apart for so long. He spent the last three years in the French Quarter, he didn't see the obvious first hand."

Kol smirked, "sure, that's an excuse you two can use to distract yourselves from the big problem we have here. You love Caroline, Caroline loves you, but Mikael is still out there. Your confessions make my darling over here, a bigger target for our lunatic father."

"She's not your anything," Klaus retorted, his smile dropping at Kol's comment. "And care to inform me how he would know about Caroline and I's late night discussions little brother? Are you forgetting Caroline already destroyed Mother's devil device? I doubt Mikael works that fast."

"Mikael had us all fooled and holed up underground while his lackeys stole Tyler Lockwood and attempted to kidnap her. We are still under strict lockdown because of him and I can tell even mother is stressed with our current situation. Believe me, we shouldn't put it past Silas, Mikael, or whoever the hell is behind this madness sent a Hybrid or two to bug a couple of our estate's rooms."

Klaus knew Kol had a point, but he refused to admit it. Maybe it was because Kol had clearly grown very close to Caroline while he was gone. Kol must've been there to comfort her and cheer her up and now thought he should have a say on situations that concern Caroline's safety. To say the least, Klaus wasn't having it. He had been happy for a moment before his brother brought all the dangers to light.

"I killed all Mikael's poor excuses of assassins and I will do it again when the Hybrids arrive. I squashed the sorry excuse of an invasion he sent under my foot. Mikael should be well aware that my intentions are not only to take back my brother. I am his better and I shall destroy him the second I get the chance. Until then, I will protect Caroline from him."

"Alright, big brother. I fold. Just remember, Caroline isn't just yours. You may be her lover for now, but you don't know her like I do. I've been her mate since the second you left on a wild goose chase Mikael sent us on. She doesn't want you to toss her into a room and lock her up while you slay your enemies. A few deaths, she knows are inevitable, but twenty three people Nik? Caroline knows that could've been avoided with prisoners. I wouldn't care because she doesn't expect more from me, but you on the other hand? Caroline doesn't want mass murder, she just wants you. What she doesn't know is that the Mikaelsons and mass murder are a package deal. But in all honesty Nik, congratulations on finally getting the girl."

Rebekah sighed as Klaus glared at his younger brother who had a knowing smirk plastered across his features. Klaus was about to yell, but she intervened, squeezing his hand. "Nik you need not listen to Kol. She makes you a better person and you do what is necessary to protect her. Caroline knows that you do what you do because you love her. When the Mikael situation resurfaces, our family will face it together. As for now, you deserve to be happy again. On top of that, now the rest of us no longer need to suffer watching Caroline dance around the subject. And Caroline can finally wear that lingerie I bought her three years ago. It was starting to collect dust in the back of her closet."

A stir interrupted Klaus before ask Rebekah to repeat herself. He turned to see Caroline reaching out for him and slowly opening her eyes. Kol faced the door and started to pretend to make out with himself and Rebekah took that as a cue to drag him out of the room by the ear. "Bekah!" Kol whined.

"Meet us in mother's office as soon as you can, alright? Mother wishes to speak to us. Bring our darling Caroline too, will you brother? I'm sure she'd love to be there when Mother hears about your new found relationship."

The door shut, leaving the two alone again and Caroline sat up. "Klaus? Is something wrong? Is there an emergency? Are they here already?"

"Just my siblings being curious, love. You know how they love to check in on us. Especially my dearest Rebekah and your… dearest Kol. She and Kol came to inform us that we will be meeting with my mother today."

Caroline was now alert, but didn't seem to sense the slighy hostility in his voice. "Kol was here? Reminds me of the time when I first came to this house and Kol had to show me the way back to the guest room while it was pitch black. He had a few things to say about us sleeping in the same bed." Caroline recalled thoughtlessly as she ran her fingers through her messy hair before blushing as she took the sight of him in. Her blue eyes raked down his body and Caroline crawled out of the sheets. A playful smile spread across her face as Klaus leaned towards her. "Did you tell them about…"

Klaus smiled back and began to kiss her. He would never get used to the glory he felt when she moved her lips against his. Caroline was no doubted the embodiment of heaven on Earth. "They had already figured it out and Rebekah would like us to tell my mother about this."

"What exactly is this?" Caroline asked, slowly pulling away. "I told you how I feel and you told me how you feel. We are both very aware of how you feel, you've been making it clear for like three years. And we are also very aware of how I feel seeing I poured my heart out to you last night. Wow I'm repeating myself, you're repeating yourself Caroline!"

"Are you nervous love?" Caroline shrugged and sunk back into the bed with a sigh. His eyes softened at her. She had yet to understand that a title meant nothing to Klaus. As long as he was with her, nothing else mattered. Nothing mattered at all. "Why ever are you nervous?"

"Well, I know you're not a big dating guy and I don't want to force you or rush you into anything. I rushed into things with Matt only for to still have feelings for Elena. I rushed Damon after a one night stand only to find out that he was just using me to get closer to Elena. I rushed Tyler and it turned out that he was hiding the fact that he was an assassin who kidnapped a twelve year old boy. I don't want what we have to turn out like any of those relationships, but I don't just want to be another one of your flings. My biggest insecurity is that I'm not worth it. With everyone, I tried so hard and I was never the one. Tyler was the first person who I thought loved me for me and I was totally fucked over because of it. There's this part of me that is so terrified that now that you have me, now that I'm not a challenge, you'll get tired of me. When I'm with you, you make me feel so much different than I felt with them and I want us to be different. I want this to be forever. I want to be with you forever."

Klaus stroked her hand gently before holding it in his. "Caroline sweetheart listen here. My heart and soul belongs to you only and you only. Matt Donovan, Damon Salvatore, and Tyler Lockwood will never love you like I can. I'll take you as long as you'll have me and as long as you are mine, I would like no one other than you. I have only had my sights on you since our paths first crossed in Brazil. A mere title does not concern me. We can be whatever you'd like."

"So like we could be dating? As in I only see you and you only see me? As in girlfriend and boyfriend?" Caroline asked as her face lit up.

"Is that what you desire, love?" Caroline nodded eagerly, "then shall I have you as my girlfriend from this moment onward?"

Caroline grinned and threw her arms around his neck as she kissed him passionately. She tangled her fingers into his hair, pulling him closer until they were flushed up against each other. Klaus bit back a growl at the feeling of her, they had to get to his mother's meeting soon, he couldn't be tempted to ravish her. "Yes, you shall! Now I can call you baby and sweetheart and honey and the rest of the repetitive pet names so we're even."

"You don't like them, darling?"

"I love them," Caroline admitted as she teasingly ran her finger across his bare chest. Klaus watched the tip of her finger trail down his abs. "Just like I love you."

He groaned as she wrapped her leg around his lower waist and pulled him back into a messy kiss and down onto the bed. She moaned into his mouth as he bit her lip and slipped her some tongue. Then Klaus heard Kol's words echo throughout his head.

_'Your confessions make my darling over here, a bigger target for our lunatic father.'_

_'You may be her lover for now, but you don't know her like I do.'_

_'Caroline doesn't want mass murder, she just wants you. What she doesn't know is that the Mikaelsons and mass murder are a package deal.'_

Klaus let her take a breath and hovered over her. Their faces were less than an inch away from each other and Caroline's eyes locked with his. He held her face wondering how she could really love him. Did she think Klaus would change his lifestyle for her? He was a murderer with an inability to differentiate right and wrong. He nearly killed Caroline on their second encounter and got a glass thrown at her on the first. Klaus lied to her on multiple occasions, he'd broken her trust more times than he could count. How could she ever truly love him as the monster he was now?

"What's wrong? Why did you stop?" Caroline asked softly, her blue eyes filled with concern. When Klaus didn't answer, she held his face carefully. "Hey? What's up?"

"It's Kol. He was making comments about our feelings for each other and they were all painfully true."

Caroline shook her head and kissed his from his cheek to his nose. "Klaus you know Kol. He's can be blunt, a bit pessimistic and is almost always wrong. Last night he texted me and told me he was on edge about the attack. Whatever he said, Kol was probably just worried about your safety."

"_Your_ safety," Klaus corrected her. "And how can I blame him? This is my fault. Every second we're together, I am putting you in danger. The man who tortured me, stole my brother and arranged for you to be kidnapped is only coming for you because of my selfish desires."

"You stopped the TOS agents."

"I killed them all. I killed twenty three mere messengers for you, Caroline. I am aware how you feel about my actions, but I am not sorry. If I can't respect your morals, how can I be the right man for you. I cannot stay away from you and I cannot stop loving you. So you love, must walk away from me."

Caroline gave him a sympathetic look and kissed him. "I can't. Not when my friends do the same work as you. Not when I do the same work as you. We all do bad things, Klaus and I'm not in any way justifying what you did yesterday, but you saved us. You saved TVD. You saved _me_. And I would much rather have twenty three dead assassins that were trying to kill you and spend my life running from Mikael's henchmen than living without you. Not when you make me feel like this. I love you Klaus, and you're not pushing me away."

Caroline crashed her lips against his, refusing to let go of his face until he melted into the kiss. Klaus gave in and slipped his hand under Caroline's tight tank top as he planted kisses along her jawline on his way to her neck. "Say it again love."

"I love you," Caroline gasped softly.

Those three words coming from Caroline's mouth were music to Klaus' ears. The soft gasps and the held back moans just egged him on. Klaus nibbled at Caroline's ear before kissing her neck while his fingers brushed against the curve of her chest and drummed on her flat stomach. He was ready to take her right there and claim her as his. Ruin her for every other man as long as he had her in his grasp.

"Oh God, Klaus," Caroline moaned softly while stopping Klaus. "I know I said I didn't want to rush you, but right now I really can't help myself and I've got your teasing and undeniable sex appeal to thank for that. Before we start the fireworks, when is Esther expecting us? So I know how much time we're working with."

Klaus chuckled in her ear and sighed knowing Caroline would be angry he had teased her. "I think as soon as possible were Rebekah's words exactly. I'll leave that up to your interpretation, love."

Caroline sat up and pushed him off of her and started whisper shouting. "Are you kidding me Klaus?! Seriously?! You got me all worked up just to leave me hanging? You were really going to have sex with me with Esther down the hall waiting for us?!" Klaus let out a laugh, but attempted to silence himself when she glared him. "Not funny Klaus."

"I know," he chuckled quietly as she got off the bed angrily and stormed towards the bathroom.

"Then stop laughing! You are a piece of shit!" Caroline exclaimed, grabbing a white fluffy pillow and whacking him with it. Not once, but twice before throwing it at him. "Leave! By the time I'm done in this bathroom, there should be clothes for me to wear from Rebekah and you should be long gone. I don't want a trace of your being in here! And put on a shirt!"

"Don't be angry Caroline," Klaus grinned from the other side of the bathroom door that she had slammed shut. "Let me make it up to you, love. We can shower together." Caroline didn't answer as Klaus rattled the locked door handle and he heard the water start running. "You're in love with me, quit the charade sweetheart!"

Though Caroline was ignoring him and he had a deadline to make, Klaus couldn't remember a moment in his life where he was happier.


End file.
